


Demigods and the Olympians read the Greek Gods.

by Weirdhead498



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, There will be tags soon enough, characters reading Greek gods book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28401390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weirdhead498/pseuds/Weirdhead498
Summary: The goddess of Fate, Ananke has locked them up in Olympus, to read the books that written about themselves! Yes, its your basic Characters read books. Canon pairings. [NOW COMPLETE] ; (I don't own Percy Jackson and Olympians or HoO, Rick Riordan does)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Aphrodite/Ares (Percy Jackson), Athena/Hephaestus, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Hera/Zeus (Percy Jackson), Jason Grace/Piper McLean
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

The Olympian council were holding their winter solstice meeting. The sign of prosperity of Olympus was within the council, and it was non other than the banter between them.

"Air disasters are better than water disasters/ water disasters are better than air disasters" or

"Mother loved me more than you." Were the same topic of argument between Zeus and Poseidon. Athena and Ares were no better, bantering over offensive warfare vs defensive warfare. Hephaestus was fiddling with his metals and Dionysus was sleeping, both having no interest. Artemis and Aphrodite were bantering for Romance, Hera was having a serious banter against Demeter about serial, which surprisingly Hades didn't notice, but he and Apollo were bantering about which is good, light or darkness, and Hermes was texting nonstop using Caduceus.

Suddenly, there was a bright light, and a book was floating in the middle of the council. The Olympians were astonished. There was a label beside the book, Athena summoned the label and book, then read the label.

"Dear Olympians. I would like to introduce you a book. I would have like to name it as "This is your life" book, but its bound to be named in an official name like , Percy Jackson's Greek Gods." Athena paused.

"Why does the sun shines from the arse of that male?" The goddess of Moon wondered outloud, and she shut her mouth quickly, meeting the eyes of an angry sea god.

Athena continued. "So, you shall read this books with demigods of my choice. The seven-"

A light spawned middle of the Olympus and seven demigods fell one on each other. Percy was in the bottom of them, who angrily said, " Hey! What gives?"

Athena ignored the sea spawn and recited, " Nico de Angelo" and Nico bumped to the ground. "Thalia Grace," Thalia fell to the ground next to Nico, and finally, "Grover Underwood." And "Food!" And Grover fell top of Thalia.

"Enjoy reading, you may take meals while reading." Athena said.

"It never said we cannot refuse reading." Hermes said, even not bothering to take his eyes away from his phone.

"P.S.- you won't be allowed to go anywhere, until you have ended reading the book. And each god must read their life tale. Good luck, Ananke." Athena ended. As a proof, the doors of the throne room closed by themselves.

"Tough luck. You have cursed it." Apollo chided.

Demigods, who were sitting in chairs in front of the gods, asked what was going on, and as an answer, Athena send them the book and the label. Everyone noticed how Percy looked pale. "Lets do this." Piper said, and took the book, began to read it.

**Introduction**

**A publisher in New York asked me**

"Wait. Who's the narrator?" Dionysus, who was just stirred up from his sleep asked. He was the god of drama, so he needed to know what this drama about. Then his eyes narrowed at Percy "Peter Johnson, is that you?" He asked. Percy rolled his eyes dramatically.

**to write down what I know about the Greek gods,**

"That's us." Hermes grinned.

**and I was like, "Can we do this anonymously? Because I don't need the Olympians mad at me again."**

"You're so busted." Leo, Apollo and Hermes replied funnily. The other gods looked no funny however, but Poseidon winked at Percy and said nothing. The other demigods looked grim, however Annabeth whispered, "at least he's smart enough to do this anonymously." , and that made Percy's day

**But if it helps you to know your Greek gods, and survive an encounter with them if they ever show up in your face, then I guess writing all this down will be my good deed for the week.**

"What's your good deed for this day?" Leo asked. "Haven't done anything yet but shutting you up would be a good deed, am I right?" Percy looked at the seven, and all of them were nodding. Nico said nothing but had an amusing smile, while Thalia glared at Leo for a second, before looking other side. Leo dramatically put his hand on his heart, and acted like he had a heartbreak.

**If you don't know me,**

"We know you very well Percy." Jason assured him, and the rest of seven nodded. Percy pouted.

**my name is Percy Jackson. I'm a modern-day demigod—a half-god, half mortal son of Poseidon**

"And the best son I could ever have." Poseidon commented.

**—but I'm not going to say much about myself.**

"But why?" Frank and Hazel asked. Athena and Annabeth rolled their eyes, Apollo sighed. "Because this is about he telling the tales of Greek gods, who happened to be us."

**My story has already been written down in some books that are total fiction (wink, wink) and I am just a character from the story (cough—yeah, right—cough).**

"And he already has a book series to brag about himself, like every other typical male." Artemis sneered. No one was going to tell her anything, but few glares were pointed at her, including Percy and Poseidon.

**Just go easy on me while I'm telling you about the gods, all right? There's like forty bajillion different versions of the myths, so don't be all Well, I heard it a different way, so you're WRONG!**

"You're being self righteous, Kelp head." Thalia said.

"That's because I'm living in Greek world?" Percy stated.

**I'm going to tell you the versions that make the most sense to me. I promise I didn't make any of this up. I got all these stories straight from the Ancient Greek and Roman dudes who wrote them down in the first place. Believe me, I couldn't make up stuff this weird.**

"Aha! That's why you had me traveling letters here and there in the underworld ?" Nico asked. "When did you became an errand boy, death breath?" Thalia asked. "At least, being Percy's errand boy is better." Nico calmly replied. Percy was certain he never let the grudge with Artemis and her hunters go.

**So here we go. First I'll tell you how the world got made. Then I'll run down a list of gods and give you my two cents about each of them. I just hope I don't make them so mad they incinerate me before I—**

"Percy, stop kidding." Annabeth warned. "Nah, he wouldn't" Leo and Jason replied.

**AGGHHHHHHHHH!**

"Well, Persus-" Zeus spoke, for the first time. "I can make you scream, if you want "

Percy made noises, Olympians bit back their laughes and the drmigods broke into massve laughs.

**Just kidding. Still here.**

"Yes Percy, your kiddings aren't new." Frank said.

**Anyway, I'll start with the Greek story of creation, which by the way, is seriously messed up.**

**Wear your safety glasses and your raincoat. There will be blood.**

"I love blood rainings. That's the pure aggression." Ares said, Athena rolled her eyes.

"I want to read the next chapter." Hestia asked, so Piper gave her the book.


	2. The beginning and stuff

Hestia began to read.

**The beginning and stuff.**

"The beginning and stuff? Pretty original, Seaweed brain!" Annabeth chided, but a small smile tugging her face.

**In the beginning, I wasn't there.**

"Obviously!" Nico said in his best 'Snape' tone.

**I don't think the Ancient Greeks were, eithe _r._**

"Well, duh! Percy Jackson." Grover said imitating Dionysus. Dionysus quirked his eyebrow at Grover and he whistled like nothing happened.

**Nobody had a pen and paper to take notes, so I can't vouch for what follows, but I can tell you it's what the Greeks thought happened.**

"And some other things made up by our own Percy Jackson." Jason whispered.

**At first, there was pretty much nothing. A lot of nothing.**

"You think where the scientists got big bang theory, Percy?" Apollo asked, for the surprise of others. "No need to be surprised. I'm the god of Knowledge!" Apollo grinned, showing his flashy teeth.

**The first god, if you can call it that, was Chaos—a gloomy, soupy mist with all the matter in the cosmos just drifting around.**

"He's also a deity." Zeus said, much surprise to everybody.

"Have you met him, father?" Athena asked in curiosity.

"Yes, but I won't mention where, when, why or how." Athena pouted, which made demigods laugh. But soon, a glare of Athena silenced them evily.

**Here's a fact for you: Chaos literally means the Gap, and we're not talking about the clothing store.**

"Aww. One of my favourite topics." Aphrodite said in a disappointed tone. Hephaestus scoffed.

**Eventually Chaos got less chaotic. Maybe it got bored with being all gloomy and misty.**

"Millanias of loneliness can do that to you." Hermes said. "I'm not much mischievous like I used to be." he mumbled.

"Oh! Like that ever happens!" Artemis scoffed, and other Olympians nodded in approval and Hermes pouted.

**Some of its matter collected and solidified into the earth, which unfortunately developed a living personality.**

The gods, seven besides Percy, Nico, Thalia and Grover nodded.

"Words of wisdom." Athena complimented.

**She called herself Gaea, the Earth Mother.**

"Actually, Chaos named her as dirt face, but she changed her name to Gaea." Leo joked.

**Now Gaea was the actual earth—the rocks, the hills, the valleys, the whole enchilada.**

"Enchiladas?" Grover asked in curiosity. Annabeth slapped back of his head.

"Goat boy! That's just seaweed brain." Annabeth said.

**But she could also take on human like form.**

"Sadly." Frank mumbled. The others nodded.

**She liked to walk across the earth—which was basically walking across herself—in the shape of a matronly woman with a flowing green dress, curly black hair, and a serene smile on her face.**

"Actually, she doesn't sound that bad." Grover said. He tried to say something else, but he shut his mouth seeing the faces of others.

**The smile hid a nasty disposition. You'll see that soon enough.**

"Don't tell me I told you so." Grover said, in a Arthur Pendragon voice.

"Grover, when did you watch Merlin series?" Annabeth asked.

"I watched it with Percy and Tyson last month. It was nice." Grover said.

**After a long time alone, Gaea looked up into the misty nothing above the earth and said to herself:**

"Talking to yourself is the first symptom of madness." Hazel said.

"Hey, that's my line." Dionysus and Apollo said same time, then glared at each other and acted like nothing happened.

**"You know what would be good? A sky. I could really go for a sky. And it would be nice if he was also a handsome man I could fall in love with, because I'm kind of lonely down here with just these rocks."**

"Awww!" Aphrodite cooed. Hephaestus and Ares were shaking their heads.

**Either Chaos heard her and cooperated, or Gaea simply willed it to happen.**

"To happen what?" Piper asked.

**Above the earth, the sky formed—a protective dome that was blue in the daytime and black at night.**

"To happen that." Athena said mockingly.

**The sky named himself Ouranos**

"Daddy!" Aphrodite squealed.

**—and, yeah, that's another spelling for Uranus. There's pretty much no way you can pronounce that name without people snickering. It just sounds wrong. Why he didn't choose a better name for himself—like Deathbringer or José—**

"That's because those kind of dumb names never existed in the first place." Hera said.

"Come on. Death bringer is a good name!" Hades said, surprisingly.

"For you, corpse breath!" Hera snapped. .

Other Olympians shook their heads at Hera.

**I don't know, but it might explain why Ouranos was so cranky all the time.**

"Your sense of humour is weird Percy." Jason said.

**Like Gaea, Ouranos could take human shape and visit the earth—which was good, because the sky is way up there and long-distance relationships never work out.**

"Say it for yourself Percy. Percabeth never broke up because of distance." Piper remembered.

"Wait, what's Percabeth?" Nico asked.

"Percabeth is the relationship between Percy and Annabeth." Piper explained. "Like Solangelo, Tratie, Jasper, Caleo, Thluke-"

"That's enough. Continue with the story, aunt Hestia." Artemis said.

**In physical form, he looked like a tall, buff guy with longish dark hair. He wore only a loincloth, and his skin changed color—sometimes blue with cloudy patterns across his muscles, sometimes dark with glimmering stars.**

"Yep, definitely not the ideal boyfriend." Piper mumbled.

"Oh, don't speak to your grandpa like that!" Aphrodite chided, but her eyes were gleaming.

The audiance broke into snickers.

**Hey, Gaea dreamed him up to look like that. Don't blame me.**

"Gaea's taste is weird." Leo commented.

**Sometimes you'll see pictures of him holding a zodiac wheel, representing all the constellations that pass through the sky over and over for eternity.**

"It should have been me." Zeus grumbled.

"You're already powerful enough." Poseidon said. "You're a power hungry god."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Ahem!" Hades coughed. "If your bromance is over, let us hear the story please."

**Anyway, Ouranos and Gaea got married.**

"No need of wedding cards." Leo mumbled.

**Happily ever after?**

"Not exactly." Frank said.

**Not exactly.**

Audiance broke into laughs. Frank was hiding his face under his palms.

"I would never guess you were turning into kelp head." Thalia commented.

**Part of the problem was that Chaos got a little creation-happy.**

"How does that become a problem?" Hazel asked.

**It thought to its misty, gloomy self: Hey, Earth and Sky. That was fun! I wonder what else I can make.**

"And that's how." Annabeth pointed out. "Once a creator, always a creator."

**Soon it created all sorts of other problems—and by that I mean gods.**

Gods looked offended.

**Water collected out of the mist of Chaos, pooled in the deepest parts of the earth, and formed the first seas, which naturally developed a consciousness—the god Pontus.**

"Pontus is awesome!" Poseidon exclaimed. Athena coughed.

**Then Chaos really went nuts and thought: I know! How about a dome like the sky, but at the bottom of the earth! That would be awesome!**

"Noo!" Nico and Annabeth moaned. Percy took Annabeth into a hug and patted her back.

"Do I get a hug?" Nico asked.

"Sorry death boy, but I'm not your type." Percy grinned and Nico acted like it hit his heart. He was over Percy long ago.

**So another dome came into being beneath the earth, but it was dark and murky and generally not very nice, since it was always hidden from the light of the sky. This was Tartarus, the Pit of Evil; and as you can guess from the name, when he developed a godly personality, he didn't win any popularity contests.**

Artemis shook her head at the sense of humour of this mortal male.

However, Hades had other ideas. "Jackson, are you forgetting the underworld? Erebus?"

Percy grinned sheepishly. "This is the version I know."

Hades shrugged it off. "You're truly a son of Poseidon." He said grimly.

**The problem was, both Pontus and Tartarus liked Gaea, which put some pressure on her relationship with Ouranos.**

"She sired Nereis with Pontus, giants and Typhoon with Tartarus; and that became a massive problem." Percy said.

"Nereis wasn't that bad!" Thalia said.

"You weren't the one who suppose to catch him." Percy reminded.

**A bunch of other primordial gods popped up, but if I tried to name them all we'd be here for weeks.**

"May be you, Percy Jackson. It would take me few hours." Athena said.

"Is your hubris kicking in?" Poseidon asked sarcastically, Athena glared at him.

**Chaos and Tartarus had a kid together (don't ask how; I don't know) called Nyx, who was the embodiment of night.**

"Probably some essence of Tartarus fell into essence of Chaos." Annabeth said, shuddering at the name. Percy took her into another hug. His eyes met Athena and Athena nodded in (grudging) approval.

**Then Nyx, somehow all by herself, had a daughter named Hemera, who was Day.**

"Her husband was Erebus." Hades pointed out.

"I said-" Percy tried to say, but Hades cut him to it.

"It doesn't matter what you say!"

The room roared with laughter.

**Those two never got along because they were as different as…well, you know.**

"Day and Night, duh!" Thalia said.

**According to some stories, Chaos also created Eros, the god of procreation…**

Aphrodite nodded. "He met me after my birth and advised how to control my powers."

**in other words, mommy gods and daddy gods having lots of little baby gods.**

"Your way of speaking is astounding, Percy." Frank said.

**Other stories claim Eros was the son of Aphrodite.**

"I named him after my mentor." Aphrodite said. Hestia nodded in approval. Even demigods were pleasantly surprised by that. Especially Nico. Eros helped him understand himself, even it was a horrible experience.

**We'll get to her later. I don't know which version is true,**

"Now you do." Aphrodite said.

**but I do know Gaea and Ouranos started having kids—with very mixed results.**

"Emphasis on very." Nico commented.

**First, they had a batch of twelve—six girls and six boys called the Titans.**

The gods nodded.

**These kids looked human, but they were much taller and more powerful.**

"Obviously!" Nico stated again.

"Nico, you can't be Severus Snape." Hazel said, slapping back of Nico's head.

**You'd figure twelve kids would be enough for anybody, right? I mean, with a family that big, you've basically got your own reality TV show.**

"Or a team Leo!" Leo commented. Nobody said anything against it.

**Plus, once the Titans were born, things started to go sour with Ouranos and Gaea's marriage.**

"It always does. Once Ares born, Zeus continued to go to human world to woo his share of women." Hera said. Zeus looked very much uneasy.

**Ouranos spent a lot more time hanging out in the sky. He didn't visit. He didn't help with the kids.**

"That's why titans are so grumpy. They have daddy issues!" Leo exclaimed.

"Not all of them. There are second generation titans, you know?" Annabeth said.

**Gaea got resentful. The two of them started fighting. As the kids grew older, Ouranos would yell at them and basically act like a horrible dad.**

"Am I sympathizing for Gaea?" Piper wondered.

**A few times, Gaea and Ouranos tried to patch things up. Gaea decided maybe if they had another set of kids, it would bring them closer….**

"Bad idea." Grover said. "Bad, Bad idea."

**I know, right? Bad idea.**

"Percy, since when did you become a telepath?" Frank asked.

"Since now." Percy made a pose.

**She gave birth to triplets. The problem: these new kids defined the word UGLY. They were as big and strong as Titans, except hulking and brutish and in desperate need of a body wax. Worst of all, each kid had a single eye in the middle of his forehead.**

"You're offending Tyson." Annabeth stated.

"What else can I tell? That they're the fair and handsome knights of round table?" Percy retorted.

The audiance roared with laughter.

**Talk about a face only a mother could love. Well, Gaea loved these guys.**

"Unlike someone is known to throw kids away just because they're ugly." Hephaestus looked in Hera's eyes as he calmly said. Hera looked away from Hephaestus, but Percy could bet there were tears pooling in her eyes.

**She named them the Elder Cyclopes,**

"Doubt it." Nico said. "If she had named them elder Cyclopes, how did she know that there will be cyclopes?"

"Oh my god Nico, you can't ask Gaea how did she know that!" Percy said.

**and eventually they would spawn a whole race of other, lesser Cyclopes. But that was much later.**

"My theory is-" Leo started, " They sired few other Cyclopes before meet Gaea. Gaea being Gaea, named the little Cyclopes first, then named her sons."

"That's not actually that bad." Piper said sarcastically.

**When Ouranos saw the Cyclops triplets, he freaked. "These cannot be my kids! They don't even look like me!"**

"Ooh burn!" Leo shouted. Then acted innocent as others gave him odd looks.

**"They are your children, you deadbeat!" Gaea screamed back. "Don't you dare leave me to raise them on my own!"**

"How are you so sure about those dialogues, Perry Johanson?" Dionysus asked.

"First its Percy Jackson, and yes, because I made them up." Percy said.

**"Don't worry, I won't," Ouranos growled.**

"Then he threw the elder Cyclopes into pit. Just like someone we know." Hephaestus stated.

**He stormed off and came back with thick chains made from the night sky's pure darkness. He bound up the Cyclopes and tossed them into Tartarus, which was the only part of creation where Ouranos wouldn't have to look at them.**

"That's harsh." Piper said.

**Harsh, right?**

Piper blushed in embarrassment.

**Gaea screamed and wailed, but Ouranos refused to release the Cyclopes. No one else dared to oppose his orders, because by this time he was getting a reputation as a pretty scary dude.**

"Thunders, storms, lightnings, rains-" Zeus was trailing off. Poseidon signed Hestia to read.

**"I am king of the universe!" he bellowed. "How could I not be? I am literally above everything else."**

"He's just like Zeus." Poseidon simply said.

"He's nothing like me." Zeus said.

"Tell it to yourself." Hades joined Poseidon.

**"I hate you!" Gaea wailed.**

**"Bah! You will do as I say. I am the first and best of the primordial gods."**

"This is why I hate males." Artemis said.

"All males aren't like that. Besides there are lots of females with many mistakes and flaws who cause lots of sins like splitting families." Nico said innocently, earning a glare from Artemis.

**"I was born before you!" Gaea protested. "You wouldn't even be here if I didn't—"**

**"Don't test me," he snarled. "I've got plenty more chains of darkness."**

"Dude." Jason sighed heavily.

**As you can guess, Gaea threw a total earthquake fit, but she didn't see what else she could do.**

"There weren't any marraige counselors at the time, so no." Leo said.

"Sometimes you're very weird Leo." Piper chided.

"What? It isn't like Gaea can beat Ouranos in a fair battle!" Leo defended himself.

**Her first kids, the Titans, were almost adults now. They felt bad for Mom. They didn't like their dad much either—Gaea was always bad-mouthing him, with good reason—but the Titans were scared of Ouranos and felt helpless to stop him.**

"Where the beginning of the end happens." Jason said.

"Not yet." Annabeth said.

**.**

"Not. Gonna. Happen." Apollo declared.

**She arranged a nice romantic evening—candles, roses, soft music. They must have rekindled some of the old magic.**

"Very smooth, kelp head." Thalia said.

"What? I'm telling this story for kids." Percy said in his defense.

**A few months later, Gaea gave birth to one more set of triplets.**

"Behold. Heros of Tyson!" Percy said.

**As if she needed more proof that her marriage to Ouranos was dead….**

"Just like my marraige with someone we all know. But this proves I'm more mentally stronger than Gaea." Hera declared.

"Come on. At least I don't treat you like Ouranos treated Gaea!" Zeus said. Hera turned her back to Zeus.

**The new kids were even more monstrous than the Cyclopes. Each one had a hundred arms all around his chest like sea urchin spines, and fifty teeny, tiny heads clustered on his shoulders. It didn't matter to Gaea.**

"Say anything about her, but she is a good mother." Hephaestus whispered.

**She loved their little faces—all hundred and fifty of them.**

"Aww." Aphrodite and Piper cooed.

**She called the triplets the Hundred-Handed Ones. She'd barely had time to give them names, though, when Ouranos marched over, took one look at them, and snatched them from Gaea's arms. Without a word, he wrapped them in chains and tossed them into Tartarus like bags of recycling.**

"He has some serious issues!" Leo said.

**Clearly, the sky dude had issues.**

"I was just saying." Leo said innocently.

**Well, that was pretty much it for Gaea. She wailed and moaned and caused so many earthquakes that her Titan kids came running to see what was wrong.**

**"Your father is a complete _!"**

**I don't know what she called him, but I have a feeling that's when the first cuss words were invented.**

"All hail the mighty goddess Gaea, the mother earth and also the goddess of insults and cuss words!" Leo said. Others of the seven, Nico and Thalia fell on to one knee and bowed.

**She explained what had happened. Then she raised her arms and caused the ground to rumble beneath her. She summoned the hardest substance she could find from her earthy domain, shaped it with her anger, and created the first weapon ever made—a curved iron blade about three feet long.**

"Blade of the Scythe of Kronos!" Zeus gasped.

**She fixed it to a wooden handle made from a nearby tree branch, then showed her invention to the Titans.**

" Hephaestus, she is better than you, dude." Apollo said. Hephaestus grumbled.

**"Behold, my children!" she said. "The instrument of my revenge. I will call it a scythe!"**

"So, she is the goddess of Scythes too?" Hazel said.

**The Titans muttered among themselves: What is that for? Why is it curved? How do you spell scythe?**

Annabeth shook her head at the sassiness of the comment. "S, C, Y, T, H, E; Scythe." She said loudly and slowly.

**"One of you needs to step up!" Gaea cried. "Ouranos isn't worthy to be the king of the cosmos. One of you will kill him and take his place."**

"And we know who stepped in." Zeus grumbled.

**The Titans looked pretty uncomfortable.**

"Wonder why? Apollo wondered outloud.

**"So…explain this whole killing thing," said Oceanus. He was the oldest Titan boy, but he mostly hung out in the far reaches of the sea with the primordial water god, whom he called Uncle Pontus.**

"Guess Pontus isn't that awesome?" Zeus asked Poseidon.

"Nah. He's still awesome." Poseidon said.

**"What does it mean, to kill?"**

"To exterminate!" Athena said.

**"She wants us to exterminate our dad," Themis guessed.**

"Your old wife Zeus, the one who you sired the fates with." Hades said, rather bored.

**She was one of the smartest girls, and she immediately got the concept of punishing someone for a crime.**

Hera's eyes gleamed dangerously at the praising of Themis. Zeus sighed heavily.

**"Like, make him not exist anymore."**

**"Is that even possible?" asked her sister Rhea.**

"Mother!" The elder Olympians (except Aphrodite) squealed.

**"I thought we were all immortal."**

"Guess you're not." Hermes said.

**Gaea snarled in frustration. "Don't be cowards! It's very simple. You take this sharp pointy blade and you cut your dad into small pieces so he can't bother us again. Whichever of you does this will be the ruler of the universe! Also, I will make you those cookies you used to like, with the sprinkles."**

The audiance broke into a mad laughter.

"Does-does they had cookies-he-that time?" Nico asked in between laughing.

"Dunno, did they have mythomagic at the time?" Percy asked back, which shut Nico up.

**Now, in modern times, we have a word for this sort of behavior. We call it psycho.**

"That was you made up the whole thing, so I guess you're the psychotic one here, Peter Johnson." Dionysus said.

**Back then, the rules of behavior were a lot looser. Maybe you'll feel better about your own relatives, knowing that the first family in creation was also the first dysfunctional family.**

"Yeah, no. They can be much worse sometimes." Frank said. The demigods nodded at approval.

**The Titans started mumbling and pointing to each other like,**

**"Hey, you'd be good at killing Dad."**

**"Uh, no, I think you should do it."**

**"I'd love to kill Dad, honestly, but I've got this thing I have to do, so—"**

"They are just like politicians." Leo said.

**"I'll do it!" said a voice from the back.**

"Finally, a god of my kind!" Ares cheered. The gods gave him odd looks. "A titan, I suppose." Ares corrected himself.

**The youngest of the twelve shouldered his way forward.**

Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, Hestia pale.

**Kronos was smaller than his brothers and sisters.**

"That won't be a problem though." Frank said.

**He wasn't the smartest or the strongest or the fastest. But he was the most power-hungry.**

"What's the similarity between Kronos and Zeus?" Poseidon wondered outloud.

**I suppose when you're the youngest of twelve kids, you're always looking for ways to stand out and get noticed. The youngest Titan loved the idea of taking over the world, especially if it meant being the boss of all his siblings.**

"That, Barnacle beard. That." Athena said. Zeus kept glaring at those two.

**The offer of cookies with sprinkles didn't hurt, either.**

"Its basically, 'come to dark side, we have cookies.' " Nico said.

**Kronos stood about nine feet tall, which was runty for a Titan. He didn't look as dangerous as some of his brothers,**

"Not dangerous? We barely won the first titan war." Zeus thundered.

**but the kid was crafty.**

Zeus and the elder Olympians nodded. First titanomachy wasn't a walk on rose carpets.

**He'd already gotten the nickname "the Crooked One" among his siblings, because he would fight dirty in their wrestling matches and was never where you expected him to be.**

"Then there's the titan of wrestling. As the god of boxing, you should fight with him Apollo." Hermes said.

"But he's a cheater!" Apollo protested.

"That's not cheating, its using the powers." Hermes retorted.

**He had his mother's smile and dark curly hair. He had his father's cruelty.**

"Guess what, Zeus looks like his father more than any of us." Demeter teased. Zeus scowled.

**When he looked at you, you could never tell if he was about to punch you or tell you a joke.**

"Not the second one surely." Nico said.

**His beard was kind of unnerving, too. He was young for a beard, but he'd already started growing his whiskers into a single spike that jutted from his chin like the beak of a raven.**

"Maybe I should try that style." Ares said. Others looked like him as if he was going mad.

**When Kronos saw the scythe, his eyes gleamed. He wanted that iron blade.**

"The oldest relationship among titans, Kroscythe." Aphrodite sighed.

"I ship it!" Leo said.

"Better than brason any day!" Piper said, her eyes gleaming mischeivously.

"What's brason?" Jason asked.

"That would be telling!" Piper squealed.

**Alone among his siblings, he understood how much damage it could cause.**

"He's like Ares, through and through." Apollo said.

**And as for killing his dad—why not? Ouranos barely noticed him. Neither did Gaea, for that matter. His parents probably didn't even know his name.**

"Lesson number 455: Parent issues causes making of evil guys." Hermes said.

**Kronos hated being ignored. He was tired of being the smallest and wearing all those stupid Titan hand-me-downs.**

"Nice way of putting it, seaweed brain." Annabeth ruffled Percy's hair.

**"I'll do it," he repeated. "I'll chop up Dad."**

"He says it very casually. Males don't have any manners." Artemis said.

**"My favorite son!" Gaea cried.**

"Naturally!" Leo exclaimed.

**"You are awesome! I knew I could count on you, uh…which one are you again?"**

A small snicker spread among the crowd.

"That's what happens when you have countless of children." Hades said.

**"Kronos." He managed to keep his smile.**

"I wonder how did he mange to keep his temper at bay. Father does get angry a lot." Hestia said, taking her eyes from the book for a moment.

**Hey, for a scythe, cookies, and a chance to commit murder, Kronos could hide his true feelings.**

"Ohh!" Hestia shook her head.

**"I will be honored to kill for you, Mother. But we'll have to do it my way. First, I want you to trick Ouranos into visiting you. Tell him you're sorry. Tell him it's all your fault and you're going to cook him a fancy dinner to apologize. Just get him here tonight and act like you still love him."**

"Guess you're not the god of plans Hephaestus." Athena said sarcastically.

"Grandpa stole your title even before your birth!" Apollo exclaimed.

"Burnnn!" Hermes said, joining the fun.

**"Ugh!" Gaea gagged. "Are you crazy?"**

"He so is!" All the people in the room said.

**"Just pretend," Kronos insisted. "Once he's in human form and sitting next to you, I'll jump out and attack him. But I'll need some help."**

"And who does help a evil plan like this?" Hazel wondered.

**He turned to his siblings, who were all suddenly very interested in their own feet.**

"Never mind." Hazel mumbled.

**"Look, guys," said Kronos, "if this goes bad, Ouranos is going to take revenge on all of us. We can't have any mistakes. I'll need four of you to hold him down and make sure he doesn't escape back into the sky before I finish killing him."**

"Easy job." Ares added.

**The others were silent. They were probably trying to picture their shrimpy little brother Kronos taking on their huge violent dad, and they weren't liking the odds.**

"Not so convincing, huh?" Demeter asked.

**"Oh, come on!" Kronos chided. "I'll do the actual slicing and dicing. Four of you just need to hold him. When I'm king, I'll reward those four! I'll give them each a corner of the earth to rule—north, south, east, and west. One-time offer. Who's with me?"**

"Hyperion, Koios, Krius and Iapetus." Poseidon said, counting his fingers.

**The girls were too wise to get involved in murder.**

"Girls are wise indeed." Artemis said.

**They made their excuses and quickly left.**

"Whimps!" Ares said. He met with a glare of Artemis.

**The oldest son, Oceanus, chewed his thumb nervously. "I have to get back to the sea, for some, uh, aquatic stuff. Sorry…"**

"Whimp!" Ares exclaimed.

"Not so much of a whimp when he shattered my castle down." Poseidon moaned painfully, remembering his precious castle.

**That left only four of Kronos's brothers—Koios, Iapetus, Krios, and Hyperion.**

"Duh!" Thalia said.

**Kronos smiled at them.**

"Partners in crime." Hermes said.

**He took the scythe from Gaea's hands and tested its point, drawing a drop of golden blood from his own finger. "So, four volunteers! Nice!"**

"Bet 5 drachmas they're not volunteers." Leo said.

**Iapetus cleared his throat. "Uh, actually—"**

"Toughen up, loser!" Ares barked.

**Hyperion jabbed Iapetus with his elbow. "We're in, Kronos!" he promised. "You can count on us!"**

"Fearsome five for freedom!" Leo exclaimed.

**"Excellent," Kronos said, which was the first time an evil genius ever said excellent.**

"You're watching movies too much, Percy." Annabeth chided.

**He told them the plan.**

**That night, amazingly, Ouranos showed up.**

"Idiot." Athena shook her head.

**He wandered into the valley where he usually met Gaea and frowned when he saw the sumptuous dinner laid out on the table.**

"He's smelling something." Nico said.

**"I got your note. Are you serious about making up?"**

"No, duh!" Piper said.

**"Absolutely!" Gaea was dressed in her best green sleeveless dress. Her curly hair was braided with jewels (which were easy for her to get, being the earth), and she smelled of roses and jasmine.**

**She reclined on a sofa in the soft light of the candles and beckoned her husband to come closer.**

"For her credit, she really knows how to please a man, or a woman." Aphrodite said.

"Please keep things PG." Percy begged, dramatically falling onto his knees.

**Ouranos felt underdressed in his loincloth. He hadn't brushed his hair or anything. His nighttime skin was dark and covered with stars, but that probably didn't count as "black tie" for a fancy dinner.**

"Oh boy, lover issues!" Leo gagged.

**He was starting to think he should've at least brushed his teeth.**

"Eww!" Piper said.

**Was he suspicious? I don't know. Remember, nobody in the history of the cosmos had been lured into an ambush and chopped to pieces before.**

"Well, he is going to be the first." Annabeth said.

**He was going to be the first.**

"Annie, the seaweed is infecting your brains too. The hunt is open anytime." Thalia joked.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Annabeth replied calmly.

**Lucky guy.**

"Very lucky." Dionysus said sarcastically.

**Also, he got lonely hanging out in the sky so much. His only company was the stars, the air god Aither (who was, in fact, a total airhead), and Nyx and Hemera, mother and daughter, who argued with each other every dawn and dusk.**

"If he was so lonely, then why he didn't visit Gaea more often?" Hera asked.

**"So…" Ouranos's palms felt sweaty. He'd forgotten how beautiful Gaea could be when she wasn't all yelling up in his face. "You're not angry anymore?"**

"Just like a typical male do." Artemis stated.

**"Not at all!" Gaea assured him.**

"Nice acting." Hermes complimented.

**"And…you're okay with me wrapping our kids in chains and throwing them into the abyss?"**

"She is so not." All of them said.

**Gaea gritted her teeth and forced a smile. "I am okay with it."**

**"Good," he grunted. "Because those little guys were UGLY."**

"Bad thing to say, dude." Leo said.

**Gaea patted the couch. "Come sit with me, my husband."**

**Ouranos grinned and lumbered over.**

"Guess you're not the goddess of seduction, Aphrodite. Your title was stolen before the birth." Artemis said.

"At least I can relate to my titles, Artemis." Aphrodite calmly said.

**As soon as he settled in, Kronos whispered from the behind the nearest boulder: "Now."**

Ares conjured some pop corn and took a fistful of pop corn in his mouth.

**His four brothers jumped out from their hiding places. Krios had disguised himself as a bush. Koios had dug a hole for himself and covered it with branches. Hyperion had tucked himself under the couch (it was a large couch), and Iapetus was attempting to look like a tree with his arms out for branches. For some reason, it had worked**

"Your imagination is wild, Peter Parker." Dionysus praised.

"Hey, I'm not spider man!" Percy said.

**The four brothers grabbed Ouranos. Each one took an arm or a leg and they wrestled their dad to the ground, stretching him out spread-eagle.**

"Tartarus would have threw them away. Nonetheless this is going to be a blood shed!" Ares cheered.

"What are you, a Vampire?" Athena asked.

"Don't compare me to that abominations! I'm not a fan of those sparkling things like you!" Ares exclaimed loudly.

Athena blushed beet red as the crowd broke into laughter.

**Kronos emerged from the shadows. His iron scythe gleamed in the starlight. "Hello, Father."**

"He sounds like Hades." Demeter said. "He said exact words when we arrived to stop Kronos."

Hades scowled.

**"What is the meaning of this?" Ouranos bellowed. "Gaea, tell them to release me!"**

"Like they would." Jason scoffed.

**"HA!" Gaea rose from her couch. "You gave our children no mercy, my husband, so you deserve no mercy. Besides, who wears a loincloth to a fancy dinner? I am disgusted!"**

"Back in ancient Greek, loincloth was a revered dress." Zeus said.

"Are you joking dad?" Jason asked, not believing his ears.

**Ouranos struggled in vain. "How dare you! I am the lord of the cosmos!"**

"Not anymore." Ares said in thrill.

**"Not anymore." Kronos raised the scythe.**

"Wow, you just sounded like Kronos." Athena said.

"What can I say, great minds think alike?" Ares shrugged.

**"Beware! If you do this, uh…what was your name again?"**

Crowd broke into sudden laughter.

**"KRONOS!"**

Laughter increased.

"He just cursed himself." Poseidon said. "Had he not tell him his name, the curse wouldn't be bestowed upon him."

**"If you do this, Kronos," said Ouranos, "I will curse you! Someday, your own children will destroy you and take your throne, just as you are doing to me!"**

"Ouranos had some power over the fate, it seems." Athena said.

**Kronos laughed. "Let them try."**

"And we did." Zeus said proudly.

**He brought down the scythe.**

Ares eyes widened with glee.

**It hit Ouranos right in the…well, you know what? I can't even say it. If you're a guy, imagine the most painful place you could possibly be hit.**

"Eww." Artemis said.

**Yep. That's the place.**

**Kronos chopped, and Ouranos howled in pain. It was like the most disgusting cheap-budget horror movie you can imagine.**

"But I enjoyed it." Ares said, banishing his pop corn bowl.

**Blood was everywhere—except the blood of the gods is golden, and it's called ichor.**

"Its ichor of Ouranos, and its much more powerful than ours." Apollo said.

**Droplets of it splattered over the rocks; and the stuff was so powerful that later on, when no one was looking, creatures arose from the ichor—three hissing winged demons called the Furies, the spirits of punishment.**

Hades sighed dreamily, remembering his favourite servants.

**They immediately fled into the darkness of Tartarus. Other drops of sky blood fell on fertile soil, where they eventually turned into wild but gentler creatures called nymphs and satyrs.**

Demeter, Artemis and Dionysus' faces adopted a smile. However, Grover had a question.

"So, Ouranos is my great-something-grandfather?"

"Yes goat boy, it appears that you have just discovered your long lost many times great grandpa." Thalia said sarcastically.

**Most of the blood just splattered everything. Seriously, those stains were never going to come out of Kronos's shirt.**

"I doubt he ever wore a shirt. He wasn't into fashion that much." Aphrodite said.

**"Well done, brothers!" Kronos grinned ear to ear, his scythe dripping gold.**

"He's king, and he can grin. That was the exact grin Zeus had in his face when he sliced father." Hades said.

**Iapetus got sick on the spot.**

"Softie!" Ares jeered.

**The others laughed and patted each other on the back.**

"Nice team spirit" Frank said sarcastically.

**"Oh, my children!" Gaea said. "I am so proud! Cookies and punch for everyone!"**

"Gaea knows how to throw a party it seems." Apollo said.

**Before the celebration, Kronos gathered up the remains of his father in the tablecloth.**

"That's disgusting." Artemis commented.

**Maybe because he resented his eldest brother, Oceanus. for not helping with the murder, Kronos toted the stuff to the sea and tossed it in.**

"Cold revenge!" Ares said.

**The blood mixed with the salty water, and…well, you'll see what came from that later.**

"You're looking at her." Aphrodite said.

**Now you're going to ask, Okay, so if the sky was killed, why do I look up and still see the sky?**

"We wasn't going to ask, but for your sake, we would." Annabeth said.

**Answer: I dunno.**

"Because they only killed Ouranos' physical form. They just exiled him to the sky. He wouldn't be able to do anything other than staying over the world." Athena said.

**My guess is that Kronos killed Ouranos's physical form, so the sky god could no longer appear on the earth and claim kingship. They basically exiled him into the air. So he's not dead, exactly; but now he can't do anything but be the harmless dome over the world.**

"I'm impressed." Athena said.

"Noo, this is the end of the world!" Hermes said funnily.

**Anyway, Kronos returned to the valley, and all the Titans had a party.**

"First party in the cosmos, baby!" Leo yelled.

**Gaea named Kronos lord of the universe. She made him a cool one-of-a-kind collector's edition golden crown and everything.**

"All to grow his ego more and more. She is spoiling him rotten." Hera scolded.

**Kronos kept his promise and gave his four helpful brothers control over the four corners of the earth.**

"At least he keeps promises." Hestia said.

**Iapetus became the Titan of the west. Hyperion got the east. Koios took the north, and Krios got the south.**

"I feel Krios." Hades said.

**That night, Kronos lifted his glass of nectar, which was the immortals' favorite drink.**

"He sounds so confident." Frank stated.

"Well, why not? He just became the king of universe." Hazel replied.

**He tried for a confident smile, since kings should always look confident,**

"How should he know that? I mean, Ouranos is not your exact ideal king?" Nico asked.

**though truthfully he was already starting to worry about Ouranos's curse—that someday Kronos's own children would depose him.**

"Ohh, lesson number 647: never try to mess with a prophecy." Apollo said.

**In spite of that, he yelled, "My siblings, a toast! We have begun a Golden Age!"**

"Yeah, truly a golden age." Zeus muttered.

**And if you like lots of lying, stealing, backstabbing, and cannibalism, then read on,**

"Titans weren't cannibals though. You're exaggerating." Annabeth said.

Elder six gods glared at her. "What? I meant titans! Just because one titan gulped down babies, you can't say they all did that!" Annabeth defended herself.

**because it definitely was a Golden Age for all that.**

"I need to read that chapter." Ares said, so Hestia send the book to him.


	3. Tricking the crooked one; and also a golden age of (insert)

Ares began to read.

**The Golden age of Cannibalism**

"I feel like some one is being biased." Annabeth said teasingly. "Cannibalism is defined as eating someone of their own race."

**AT FIRST, KRONOS WASN'T SO BAD.**

"Really?" Jason asked sarcastically.

**He had to work his way up to being a complete slime bucket.**

"Every slime bucket has to work their way up to be a slime bucket." Artemis stated.

**He released the Elder Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones from Tartarus, which made Gaea happy.**

"At least he has done one good thing in his life." Hestia said.

"Only to throw them back in Tartarus." Zeus scowled.

**The monstrous guys turned out to be useful, too.**

"They're excellent tinkerers." Hephaestus said.

**They had spent all their time in the abyss learning how to forge metal and build with stone (I guess that's pretty much all there was to do),**

"Some of us have productive ways to spend our hours of loneliness." Hephaestus said.

"Are you feeling lonely?" Aphrodite asked seductively. Ares gave a look full of jealousy at Hephaestus.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Hephaestus whispered bitterly.

**so in gratitude for their freedom, they constructed a massive palace for Kronos on top of Mount Othrys, which back then was the tallest mountain in Greece.**

"Waste of their energy." Athena said.

**The palace was made from void-black marble. Towering columns and vast halls gleamed in the light of magical torches.**

"Somewhat attractive. I should make a miniature version of it in front of Zeus's castle." Annabeth said.

"Don't you dare!" Zeus snarled, touching his master bolt.

**Kronos's throne was carved from a solid block of obsidian, inlaid with gold and diamonds—which sounds impressive, but probably wasn't very comfortable.**

"I assure you Percy Jackson, the Hekatonkires and elder Cyclopes are the best. They probably made it comfortable." Hephaestus said.

**That didn't matter to Kronos.**

"Why?" Frank asked.

**He could sit there all day, surveying the entire world below him, cackling evilly, "Mine! All mine!"**

"Might have been his favourite hobby, aside from cuddling with his Scythe." Piper joked.

**His five Titan brothers and six Titan sisters didn't argue with him.**

"No one in their right mind argues with a crazy sycopath." Hermes said.

**They had pretty much staked out their favorite territories already—and besides, after seeing Kronos wield that scythe, they didn't want to get on his bad side.**

"Well reasoned." Apollo said.

**In addition to being king of the cosmos, Kronos became the Titan of time.**

"And the titan of harvest." Grover pointed out.

**He couldn't pop around the time stream like Doctor Who or anything,**

"That would have been a disaster." Poseidon said. "If he did, then we would have been lost before the beginning of war."

"You know who doctor who is?" Athena asked. She was mildly surprised.

"Just watched some with Sally." Poseidon shrugged. Percy was lost in thoughts for few minutes.

**but he could occasionally make time slow down or speed up.**

"Wow! That's awesome too." Leo blurted out. Then he was met with glares of certain five gods and goddesses. Then he had this sudden interest of watching his feet.

**Whenever you're in an incredibly boring lecture that seems to take forever, blame Kronos.**

"Or Zeus." Poseidon suggested, and his fellow Olympians nodded. Zeus pouted.

**Or when your weekend is way too short, that's Kronos's fault, too.**

"One cannot simply grasp the art of torturing." Leo said.

**He was especially interested in the destructive power of time. Being immortal, he couldn't believe what a few short years could do to a mortal life. Just for kicks, he used to travel around the world, fast-forwarding the lives of trees, plants, and animals so he could watch them wither and die.**

"That's horrible!" Hestia exclaimed. Artemis nodded in agreement.

**He never got tired of that.**

"Another hobby for the list of Kronos' favourite hobbies." Nico joked.

**As for his brothers, the four who helped with the murder of Ouranos were given the four corners of the earth—which is weird, since the Greeks thought the world was a big flat circle like a shield, so it didn't really have corners, but whatever.**

Annabeth slapped Percy on the back of his head.

"Wha- why?" Percy asked.

"That's the only known way to control your seaweed brainness." Annabeth said.

**Krios was the Titan of the south. He took the ram for his symbol, since the ram constellation rose in the southern sky. His navy blue armor was dotted with stars. Ram's horns jutted from his helmet.**

"Had the most boring jobs ever." Hades said in a gloomy mood.

**Krios was the dark, silent type. He would stand down there at the southern edge of world, watching the constellations and thinking deep thoughts—or maybe he was just thinking he should have requested a more exciting job.**

"Couldn't agree with you more, dad!" Nico said.

"Silent dark type is sexy." Aphrodite commented.

**Koios, the Titan of the north, lived at the opposite end of the world (obviously).**

"Grandpa!" Apollo and Artemis said together.

**He was sometimes called Polus, because he controlled the northern pole.**

"So he is like, god of Polar bears?" Frank asked.

**This was way before Santa Claus moved in.**

"Nah. Santa Claus is secretly Koios. Mom said so." Apollo said sarcastically.

**Koios was also the first Titan to have the gift of prophecy.**

"Like son, like grandfather." Hermes commented.

**In fact, Koios literally means question. He could ask questions of the sky, and sometimes the sky would whisper answers. Creepy?**

"Well, he asks questions from dead people, he and death boy can relate." Percy said.

**Yes. I don't know if he was communing with the spirit of Ouranos or what, but his glimpses of the future were so useful that other Titans started asking him burning questions**

"Burning? Where?" Leo asked.

Artemis gave a look at Hephaestus like 'Why did you gave him fire powers'.

**like: What's the weather going to be on Saturday? Is Kronos going to kill me today? What should I wear to Rhea's dance? That kind of thing. Eventually Koios would pass down the gift of prophecy to his children.**

Crowd broke into laughter. "No wonder why he passed the gift to Apollo." Hermes said. "Can you tell of those things, Apollo?" He asked. Apollo rolled eyes at him.

**Hyperion, Titan of the east, was the flashiest of the four.**

"Not as flashy as me!" Apollo declared.

**Since the light of day came from the east every morning, he called himself the Lord of Light.**

"Is he Dumbledore?" Leo asked.

"Dumbledore never claimed he is the lord of light or leader of light whatsoever. You were reading those Dumbledore bashing fanfictions way too much." Hazel said.

"Plus, last time I saw him, he never had a waist long white beard and hair, or twinkling blue eyes." Percy added.

**Behind his back, everybody else called him Kronos Lite, because he did whatever Kronos told him, and was basically like Kronos with half the calories and none of the taste.**

"That term never existed then, but I guess you're right." Athena said.

**Anyway, he wore blazing golden armor and was known to burst into flames at random moments, which made him fun at parties.**

"He's just like Leo!" Piper commented. Leo gave his best 'I'm offended' look.

**His counterpart, Iapetus,**

Nico, Annabeth and Percy smiled sadly. They missed their friend Bob the good titan. However Hades looked a bit unnerved, he remembered making the titan a janitor.

**was more laid-back, being the Titan of the west.**

"More like me." Poseidon grinned.

**A good sunset always makes you want to kick back and chill.**

"Sunsets are good for romantic picnics." Aphrodite whispered dreamily.

**Despite that, you didn't want to get this guy mad at you. He was an excellent fighter who knew how to use a spear. Iapetus literally means the Piercer, and I'm pretty sure he didn't get that name by doing ear-piercings at the mall.**

"He gave me some serious wounds." Zeus commented.

**As for the last brother, Oceanus, he took charge of the outer waters that circled the world.**

"The oceans." Poseidon said, he was tightly clutching his trident.

**That's how the big expanses of water bordering the earth came to be called oceans. It could have been worse.**

"How so?" Nico asked curiously.

**If Iapetus had taken over the waters, today we'd be talking about the Atlantic Iapet and sailing the iapet blue, and that just doesn't have the same ring to it.**

"Now thinking about it-" Poseidon started. "How about talking about Atlantic idon or sailing Idon blue?"

"That..does have a ring!" Percy said.

"You're just being biased, seaweed brain." Annabeth said, slapping his arm.

**Now, before I turn to the six lady Titans, let me get some nasty business out of the way.**

"Nasty business? I'm born to deal with nasty business." Ares said, not taking his eyes out of the book.

**See, eventually the guy Titans started thinking, Hey, Dad had Gaea for a wife. Who are we going to have for wives? Then they looked at the lady Titans and thought, Hmm…**

"Oh!" Ares mumbled. "I think that sort of nasty business belongs in Aphrodite's area."

**I know. You're screaming, GROSS! The brothers wanted to marry their own sisters?!**

"Nah. We have living examples right in this very palace." Apollo said sarcastically.

**Yeah. I find that pretty disgusting myself, but here's the thing: Titans didn't see family relationships the same way we do.**

"Or gods." Annabeth corrected.

**First off, like I said before, the rules of behavior were a lot looser back then.**

"Way too loose for my favour." Artemis said.

**Also, there weren't many choices when it came to marriage partners.**

"Oh." Aphrodite mumbled. "I guess so."

**You couldn't simply log into and find your perfect soul mate.**

" ? Hahahaa!" Nico bursted into a heavy fit of laughter, and in the end he coughed. Hazel patted him on back way too hard.

**Most important, immortals are just different from humans. They live forever, more or less. They have cool powers. They have ichor instead of blood and DNA, so they aren't concerned about bloodlines not mixing well. Because of that, they don't see the whole brother-sister thing in the same way. You and the girl you like might have been born of the same mom, but once you grew up and you were both adults, you wouldn't necessarily think of her as your sister anymore.**

"Good explanation." Athena praised Percy. "Maybe the sea spawn has some hope after all."

**That's my theory. Or maybe the Titans were all just freaks. I'll let you decide.**

"Then Zeus is a freak too!" Hades said.

**Anyway, not all the brothers married all the sisters, but here's the rundown.**

**The oldest girl was Theia.**

"Titaness of clear sight and heavenly light." Apollo said. "Don't ask me, I have to deal with light deities like Theia and Eos."

**If you wanted her attention, all you had to do was wave something shiny in her face. She loved sparkly things and bright scenic views.**

"Wow, nice dating advice, Percy!" Leo said.

**Every morning she would dance with happiness when daylight returned.**

"So Apollo has a chance with her?" Hermes asked jokingly.

**She would climb mountains just so she could see for miles around.**

"Climbing mountains isn't big deal for titans though." Frank pointed out. "They can just teleport."

**She would even delve underground and bring out precious gems, using her magic powers to make them gleam and sparkle.**

"And the reason why Hades is so rich!" Poseidon said. Hades simply smirked.

**Theia is the one who gave gold its luster and made diamonds glitter.**

Hades sighed dreamily. He could totally memorise the wealth he has in downstairs.

**She became the Titan of clear sight. Because she was all about bright and glittery, she ended up marrying Hyperion, the lord of light.**

"Man, you would have a greater chance if you were born in that era." Hermes said to Apollo. "She would totally like your flashing grin."

**As you can imagine, they got along great, though how they got any sleep with Hyperion glowing all night and Theia giggling, "Shiny! Shiny!" I don't know.**

"That's why I don't date her." Apollo replied. "She can be...annoying sometimes.

**Her sister Themis? Totally different.**

Zeus sighed. Hera glared at him.

**She was quiet and thoughtful and never tried to draw attention to herself, always wearing a simple white shawl over her hair. She realized from an early age that she had a natural sense of right and wrong. She understood what was fair and what wasn't.**

"Reason 102 why Zeus and Themis got along." Aphrodite cooed. "Zeus is the god of justice!"

**Whenever she was in doubt, she claimed that she could draw wisdom straight from the earth.**

"I don't think she meant Gaea." Athena stated.

**I don't think she meant from Gaea,**

Athena rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead. She couldn't believe she was turning into one of Poseidon's sons.

**though, because Gaea wasn't really hung up on right and wrong.**

"The sense of right and wrong vanishes if someone faced situations like me." Suddenly, a sleepy voice grumbled. The gods tightened their holds of weapons. Percy took the riptide out. Jason sword was ready in his hands. Frank turned into a boar. Annabeth, Piper and Hazel stood back to back, ready to charge. Jason had his sword right in his hand.

And then, Hermes and Apollo broke into snickers. Then gods and demigods too, broke into laughter recognizing it was a prank.

**Anyway, Themis had a good reputation among her brothers and sisters. She could mediate even the worst arguments. She became the Titan of natural law and fairness. She didn't marry any of her six brothers, which just proves how wise she was.**

"Like me." Athena declared.

**Third sister: Tethys,**

"These T s are so annoying. Don't say the next sister was Thalia or something." Leo complained.

Then he dodged an arrow. "What?" He looked at Thalia.

"I'm right here!" Thalia warned.

Leo was genuinely angry, he never meant this Thalia. Next second, Leo shot a fire ball at Thalia. And the next minute, Artemis turned him into a Jackelope, and then she found out her throne is on fire.

Hephaestus glared at Artemis. "My son is not a play toy for your little huntresses. Turn him back."

"Or what? You're just a cripple!" Artemis insulted.

Hephaestus sneered at her. "You want to experience your first ride of your throne?"

There was a silence.

"Fine." Artemis sighed and turned Leo back. Leo said nothing and glared at Artemis.

**and I promise this is the last "T" name for the girls, because even I'm getting confused.**

"Good." Nico said. "It was messing with my brain too."

**She loved rivers, springs, and fresh running water of any kind.**

"She is the mother of river gods. What do you expect?" Poseidon asked.

**She was very kind, always offering her siblings something to drink, though the others got tired of hearing that the average Titan needs twenty-four large glasses of water a day to stay hydrated.**

"The heck?" Apollo asked, " Average titan needs to drink twenty four glasses of water per a day? Who made this up?" Then Apollo felt like slapping himself.

Percy grinned like a mad man. "Me!"

**At any rate, Tethys thought of herself as the nursemaid for the whole world,**

"Another contestant for the competition: Apollo's bride!" Hermes announced.

"Nursemaids are hot Apollo. I know from the experience." Poseidon winked.

**since all living things need to drink. She ended up marrying Oceanus, which was kind of a no-brainer. "Hey, you like water? I like water too! We should totally go out!"**

"That's not that bad! Somehow they had some similarities!" Piper said sarcastically.

**Phoebe, the fourth sister,**

"Grandma!" Apollo said, and Artemis whispered.

**lived right in the geographic center of the world, which for the Greeks meant the Oracle of Delphi—a sacred spring where you could sometimes hear whispers of the future if you knew how to listen.**

"But how?" Frank asked.

"Ask the specialist." Percy pointed at Apollo.

"That's a secret.." Apollo flashed a smile.

**The Greeks called this place the omphalos, literally the belly button of the earth,**

"Innie or outie?" Leo asked, who had just recovered from his anger issues.

**though they never specified whether it was an innie or an outie.**

"Right! So I can imagine it as whatever belly button I want." Leo mumbled.

**Phoebe was one of the first people to figure out how to hear the voices of Delphi, but she wasn't a gloomy, mysterious sort of fortune-teller.**

"That's because fortune telling needed few patch ups." Nico piped up.

**Her name meant bright, and she always looked on the positive side of things.**

"That's some good attitude." Frank praised.

**Her prophecies tended to be like fortune cookies—only good stuff.**

"Fortune cookies!" Aphrodite squealed.

**Which was fine, I guess, if you only wanted to hear good news, but not so great if you had a serious problem.**

"Why is that?" Jason asked.

**Like if you were going to die tomorrow, Phoebe might just tell you, "Oh, um, I foresee that you won't have to worry about your math test next week!"**

"Seriously, Seaweed brain?" Annabeth asked, wondering about the future of her amazing boyfriend.

**Phoebe ended up marrying Koios, the northern dude, because he also had the gift of prophecy.**

"Hey, you have the gift of prophecy? Me too. We should totally go out." Piper said in her best Percy voice.

**Unfortunately, they only saw each other once in a while since they lived very far apart.**

"Another example for distant relationships works!" Aphrodite said. Then she conjured a scoreboard. Percy: 1, Aphrodite: 2

**Bonus fact:much later, Phoebe's grandson, a guy named Apollo, took over the Oracle.**

Apollo made a pose.

**Because he inherited her powers, Apollo was sometimes called Phoebus Apollo.**

"Nah. That's not it. Arty is called Pheobe Artemis yet she can't see future a teeny weeny bit!" Apollo said sarcastically.

"Don't call me Arty." Artemis threatned.

**Titan sister five was Mnemosyne—and, man, with my dyslexia I had to spell check that name about twenty times, and it's probably still wrong.**

"Dyslexia is the worst!" Nico said.

**Pretty sure it's pronounced NEMO-sign.**

"Fun fact, you can't say Nemo-sign without saying Emo." Leo said. Then he looked at Nico teasingly. Nico rolled his eyes at Leo.

**Anyway, Mnemosyne was born with a photographic memory long before anyone knew what a photograph was.**

"At that time, they called it an autographic memory." Hazel whispered secretively.

**Seriously, she remembered everything—her sisters' birthdays, her homework, putting out the garbage, feeding the cats.**

"That is handy." Jason said.

**In some ways, that was good.**

"At least I didn't say his exact words." Jason defended himself.

**She kept the family records and never ever forgot anything.**

"I sense a but here." Frank said.

**But in some ways, having her around was a drag, because she would never let you forget anything.**

"She and Athena can get along that way." Poseidon said.

**That embarrassing thing you did when you were eight years old? Yep, she remembered. That promise you made three years ago that you would pay her back that loan? She remembered.**

"Seems like she was a major pest." Dionysus drawled.

**What was worse, Mnemosyne expected everybody else to have a good memory too.**

"It seems you have a long lost sister, niece." Demeter said, biting an apple.

Athena rolled her eyes.

**Just to be helpful, she invented letters and writing so the rest of us poor schmucks who didn't have perfect recall could keep permanent records of everything.**

"So, we have Nemo-sign to blame all about school and tests?" Leo asked. "Shut it!" Annabeth and Athena hissed in union.

**She became the Titan of memory, especially rote memorization. Next time you have to study for a spelling test or memorize the capitals of all fifty states for no apparent reason, thank Mnemosyne.**

"We will keep that in mind." Jason said.

**That kind of assignment was totally her idea. None of her fellow Titans wanted to marry her. Go figure.**

"I think her soulmate is Athena. That's why she became a virgin goddess." Aphrodite theorised.

"Are you barking mad, Aphrodite?" Athena asked.

"That's my job." Dionysus said and Athena rolled her eyes at him.

"Nemo and Athena sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" Apollo began to sing while playing his lyre, but stopped it receiving a glare from Athena.

"I ship it." Zeus boomed. "Mnemona!"

"Father, you too?" Athena asked. "Ughh!"

**Finally, there was sister number six: Rhea.**

"Mom!" Six elder Olympians whispered, their voices were suddenly fill with happiness.

**Poor Rhea. She was the sweetest and most beautiful of the lady Titans, which of course meant she had the worst luck and the hardest life.**

"It always does." Aphrodite said with a sad voice.

**Her name either means flow or ease.**

"Fitting names." Demeter said.

**Both definitions fit. She always went with the flow, and she totally put people at ease.**

"Indeed." The other siblings agreed.

**She would wander the valleys of the earth, visiting her brothers and sisters, talking to the nymphs and satyrs who had sprung from the blood of Ouranos. She loved animals, too. Her favorite was the lion. If you see pictures of Rhea, she almost always has a couple of lions with her, which made it very safe for her to walk around, even in the worst neighborhoods.**

"She and Hestia seems alike." Piper commented. Hestia couldn't help but smile at that.

**Rhea became the Titan of motherhood. She adored babies and always helped her sisters during their deliveries. Eventually she would earn the title the Great Mother when she had kids of her own.**

"That would be us!" Zeus said.

**Unfortunately, she had to get married before any of that happened,**

"To another jerk of a male." Artemis stated.

**which is how all the trouble started….Oh, but everything was so great! What could possibly go wrong?**

"Everything." Thalia whispered.

**That's what the Earth Mother Gaea thought.**

"Well, she is wrong." Nico said.

"Can primordials break a curse from another primordial?" Athena asked.

"It can be possible." Zeus said.

"Why don't you ask your dear Nemo-sign?" Demeter teased. Athena ignored her.

"So, Gaea could have break the curse but she didn't. And she knows there's a curse because she was there." Athena said.

"I think she wanted to break Kronos' family life." Aphrodite intervened. "She never had a good family life with Ouranos, I think she was jealous. I think this is why she wants destroy us Olympians. Because no matter how powerful Gaea is, we have something what she ever didn't have. A family." Aphrodite said.

"That makes sense." Athena agreed with her rival goddess. "You know, I just thought about you as a dumb idiot who only likes fashions and other things, but now, I think you can understand things better than us sometimes."

"And you're forgiven, Athena." Aphrodite assured.

**She was so pleased to see her kids in charge of the world, she decided to sink back down into the earth for a while and just be, well…the earth.**

"Like me when my duty time is over. But she can rest whenever she likes." Apollo stated.

**She'd been through a lot. She'd had eighteen kids. She deserved a rest.**

"Yes, she did." Dionysus said.

**She was sure Kronos would take care of things and be a good king forever and ever.**

"Yeah, right." Thalia said sarcastically.

**(Yeah, right.)**

Thalia was suddenly interestes in her feet.

**So she lay down for a quick nap, which in geological terms meant a few millennia.**

"Time is different for immortals." Poseidon nodded.

**Meanwhile, the Titans started having kids of their own, who were second-generation Titans.**

"Mommy titans and daddy titans began to have second generation titans, aren't they?" Leo asked.

**Oceanus and Tethys, Mr. & Mrs. Water, had a daughter named Klymene, who became the Titan goddess of fame.**

"Bob's wife." Annabeth whispered to Nico, who nodded.

**I'm guessing she was into fame because she grew up at the bottom of the ocean where nothing ever happened. She was all about gossip and reading the tabloids and catching up on the latest Hollywood news…or she would've been, if Hollywood existed.**

"She is like Aphrodite then?" Zeus said.

**Like a lot of folks who are obsessed with fame, she headed west.**

"I don't think L.A. existed then." Thalia said.

**She ended up falling for the Titan of the west, Iapetus.**

"She is Bob's wife then?" Jason asked.

**I know, he was technically her uncle.**

"Disgusting!" Artemis said.

**Disgusting.**

Artemis felt like she is about to vomit.

**But like I said before, the Titans were different. My advice is not to think about it too much.**

"Ok Percy, we're taking your advise." Jason said.

**Anyway, Iapetus and Klymene had a son named Atlas,**

Annabeth, Grover, Percy and Thalia groaned. Artemis scowled.

**who turned out to be an excellent fighter,and also kind of a jerk.**

"True." Artemis said. "He may be a jerk, but I only survived against him the second time because of the weight of sky." She admitted.

"Did I hear it right? Armetus just accepted one of her many weaknesses?" Dionysus asked.

Artemis glowered at him.

**When he grew up, he became Kronos's right-hand man and main enforcer.**

"Figures." Nico muttered.

**Next, Iapetus and Klymene had a son named Prometheus, who was almost as clever as Kronos.**

"Prometheus is cleverer than him." Hestia said.

**According to some legends, Prometheus invented a minor life form you may have heard of—humans.**

"Ah, yes. One of the most important minor life form." Zeus said.

"That's why he made a clay puppet in our meeting between the war, and slammed it. How original?" Grover wondered.

**Did Prometheus get a medal for that?**

"Nah!" Nico said.

**Nah.**

Nico shook his head. Maybe he ate too much happy meals

**The Titans looked on humans the way we might look on gerbils.**

"They aren't alone." Hera muttered.

**Some Titans thought humans were kind of cute, though they died awfully quick and didn't really serve any purpose. Other Titans thought they were repulsive rodents. Some Titans didn't pay them any attention at all. As for the humans, they mostly just cowered in their caves and scurried around trying not to get stepped on.**

"That's actually bad. Humans are complex just like us gods, they have thought to think for themselves. They aren't some animals." Hermes pointed out.

**The Titans kept having more baby Titans. I won't mention all of them or we'll be here for as long as Gaea napped,**

"I'm relieved." Piper said.

**but Koios and Phoebe, the prophecy couple, had a girl named Leto,**

"Mother!" Apollo and Artemis beamed.

**who decided she wanted to be the Titan protector of the young. She was the world's first babysitter. All the dad and mom Titans were really happy to see her.**

"I suppose so." Hades said.

**Hyperion and Theia, Mr. & Mrs. Shiny, had twins named Helios and Selene,**

Apollo and Artemis looked somewhat unnerved.

**who were in charge of the sun and the moon. Makes sense, right? You can't get much shinier than the sun and the moon.**

"Yes, you can. The light itself. Aether." Annabeth whispered.

**Helios would drive the chariot of the sun across the sky every day, even though it got terrible mileage. Helios thought he looked pretty hot, and he had an annoying habit of calling the sun his "chick magnet."**

"Chick magnet? That's not bad." Apollo said. "But I can't name my ride after that, can't I? I'm a total chick magnet myself." He boasted.

**Selene wasn't quite so flashy. She drove her silver moon chariot across the sky at night and mostly kept to herself, though the one time she did fall in love, it was the saddest story ever.**

"Is that why you don't love anyone?" Aphrodite asked Artemis teasingly.

Artemis' response was a glare, and turning her back to Aphrodite.

**But that's for any rate, one particular Titan wasn't getting married or having kids…**

"Kronos." Everyone guessed.

**namely Kronos, the lord of the universe.**

"Curse of Ouranos." Frank said.

**He just sat on his throne in the palace of Mount Othrys and got very, very grumpy watching everyone else have a good time.**

"I thought I would never say this, but I feel sad for father." Hera said, for the surprise for everyone.

**Remember that curse Ouranos warned him about—that someday Kronos's own kids would overthrow him? Kronos couldn't get that out of his head.**

"Like Zeus, when he gulped Metis." Poseidon said.

**At first he told himself, Well, no biggie. I just won't get married or have kids!**

"He opened his big mouth." Leo said. However, five elder Olympians shuddered at the thought of Kronos' big mouth.

**But it's a pain to be on your own when everyone around you is settling down and starting families. Kronos had earned the throne fair and square, but that curse took all the fun out of chopping up his dad.**

"Like they say, Karma is a female dog." Piper said.

**Now he had to worry about getting overthrown while everyone else got to enjoy the good life. Uncool.**

"Totally uncool." Jason said.

**His relatives didn't visit him much anymore. Once Gaea went back into the earth, they stopped coming by the palace for Sunday dinner.**

"Ickle twitans scawed of big bawd Kwonows?" Leo asked.

**They said they were busy, but Kronos suspected that his brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews were simply scared of him.**

"Excuses, excuses-" Apollo hummed, playing his Lyre.

**He did have his father's temper and sense of cruelty. His scythe was intimidating. Plus, he had the slightly off-putting tendency to scream, "I'll kill you all!" whenever someone made him mad.**

"He sounds cool." Ares said.

**But was that his fault?**

"Kinda." Piper said.

**One morning he really snapped. He woke up to a Cyclops hammering on a piece of bronze right outside his bedroom window. Seven in the morning, on a weekend!**

"Holy Hera!" Leo gasped. Hera raised an eyebrow at him.

**Kronos had promised his mom he would free the Elder Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones from Tartarus, but he was getting really tired of his ugly relatives.**

Hephaestus growled.

**They'd become more and more disgusting as they grew up. They smelled like Porta Potties.**

"Seaweed brain!" Annabeth scolded, but she couldn't help but giggle.

**They had, like, zero personal hygiene,and they were constantly making noise—building things, hammering metal, cutting stone. They'd been useful for building the palace, but now they were just annoying.**

"You can't get rid of your relatives just because they're ugly and annoying." Hestia said.

**Kronos called Atlas and Hyperion and a couple of his other goons. They rounded up the Cyclopes and Hundred-Handed Ones and told them they were going for a nice drive in the country to look at wildflowers.**

"They probably did not.-" Grover tried to say, but Percy cut him to it. "I just made it up!" He singsonged.

**Then they jumped the poor guys, wrapped them in chains again, and tossed them back into Tartarus.**

"Harsh. Way too harsh." Piper said.

**If Gaea woke up, she wouldn't be happy—but so what? Kronos was the king now. Mom would just have to deal with it.**

"He needs some attitude adjustment." Hera said.

**Things were much quieter at the palace after that, but Kronos still had a major case of the grumpies. It wasn't fair that he couldn't have a girlfriend.**

"Considering all, it isn't fair." Hermes said.

**In fact, he had a particular girl in mind. Secretly, he had a crush on Rhea.**

"Creep alert, mom!" Poseidon warned.

**She was gorgeous. Every time the Titan family got together, Kronos stole glances at her. If he noticed any of the other guys flirting with her, he would pull them aside for a private conversation with his scythe in hand, and warn them never to do it again.**

"That's kind of romantic, I guess." Piper said.

**He loved how Rhea laughed. Her smile was brighter than Helios's chick magnet…uh, I mean the sun. He loved the way her dark curly hair swept her shoulders. Her eyes were as green as meadows, and her lips…well, Kronos dreamed about kissing those lips.**

"Your boyfriend has a good imagination and a sense of romance." Aphrodite said to Annabeth as a praise.

**Also, Rhea was sweet and kind and everyone loved her. Kronos thought: If I just had a wife like that, my family wouldn't fear me as much. They'd come to the palace more often. Rhea would teach me to be a better Titan. Life would be awesome!**

"If only that happened!" Hades drawled.

**But another part of him thought, No! I can't get married, because of that stupid curse! Kronos grumbled in frustration.**

"Had Gaea broke the curse, his life would have been better." Aphrodite commented.

**He was the king of the freaking universe! He could do whatever he wanted! Maybe Ouranos had just been messing with him and there was no curse. Or maybe he would get lucky and he wouldn't have kids.**

"Just like Zeus! Just like Zeus!" Poseidon chuckled.

**Note to self: If you're trying not to have kids, don't marry a lady who is the Titan of motherhood.**

"No we're good, we want to have kids." Leo said.

**Kronos tried to restrain himself, but finally he couldn't stand it any longer. He invited Rhea to a romantic dinner and poured out his feelings. He proposed to her on the spot.**

"He does know the way to court a lady! I'm surprised!" Apollo joked.

**Now, I don't know if Rhea loved the guy or not.**

"She did." Zeus said. "Until the swallowing of his own children."

**If she didn't, I imagine she was too afraid to say so. This was Kronos the Crooked One, after all—the dude who had killed their dad. The king of the freaking universe.**

"That he was." Poseidon agreed.

**It didn't help that the whole time they ate dinner, his scythe was resting on a hook on the wall right behind him, its blade gleaming in the candlelight like it was still covered in golden ichor.**

" Kroscythe!" Piper piped up.

**Rhea agreed to marry she thought she could make him into a better guy. Maybe Kronos believed that, too.**

"But she couldn't." Hestia said sadly.

**They had a nice honeymoon. A few weeks later, when Kronos heard that (surprise, surprise) Rhea was expecting their first child, he tried to convince himself everything was fine.**

"Kronos is paying the price for trying to escape the fate." Apollo said.

**He was happy!**

"Really?" Leo asked sarcastically.

**He would never be a bad father like Ouranos. It didn't matter if the baby was a boy Titan or a girl Titan. Kronos would love him or her and forget all about that old curse.**

"Alas, we were gods." The elder Olympians said.

**Then the kid was born—a beautiful baby girl.**

"Me." Hestia smiled.

**Rhea had been secretly worried her child might turn out to be a Cyclops or a Hundred-Handed One. Maybe Kronos had been stressing about that, too. But nope. The child was perfect. In fact, she was a little too perfect.**

"Its matter of the size. Gods are smaller than titans, because of that, they became more powerful than titans." Annabeth said.

**Rhea named her Hestia. She swaddled the baby in soft blankets and showed her to her proud papa.**

"Proud?" Zeus scoffed.

**At first, Kronos smiled. The kid was not a monster—sweet!**

"I remember him." Hestia said sadly. "He was smiling at me warmly. He said "I'm your father" and he softly kissed me on forehead. Then something snapped in him. Then he-" Hestia stopped. "Then he opened his mouth and swallowed me in."

"You never said that!" Poseidon said.

"You weren't listening to me anyway." Hestia said sadly.

**But as he tickled her chin and looked into her eyes and made the usual cute goo-goo noises, Kronos realized Hestia wasn't exactly a Titan.**

"Oh boy!" Nico muttered.

**She was smaller than a Titan baby, but heavier and perfectly proportioned. Her eyes were much too intelligent for a newborn. She radiated power. With Kronos's understanding of time, he could easily envision what this girl would look like when she grew up. She would be smaller than a Titan, but capable of great things. She would surpass any Titan at whatever she chose to do.**

"Had he not seen what would be happen-" Hestia started.

"Zeus would still chop him up, out of his greed." Hades said, intervening her.

**Hestia was like an improved version of the Titans—Titan 2.0, the Next Big Thing.**

"Titan 2.0?" Hermes laughed like a mad man.

**In fact, she wasn't a Titan at all. She was a goddess—the first member of an entirely new branch of immortal at her, Kronos felt like an old cell phone staring at the latest model smartphone. He knew his days were numbered.**

"Did they have calendars those days?" Hazel wondered.

**His proud papa smile faded.**

"Oh no!" Thalia exclaimed dramatically.

**This kid could not be allowed to grow up, or the prophecy of Ouranos would come true. Kronos had to act fast.**

Everyone shook their heads at what's going to happen.

**He knew Rhea would never agree to have her child killed, and she'd brought those stupid lions with her as usual. He couldn't have a fight in the throne room. Besides, he couldn't reach for his scythe while holding the baby. He had to get rid of Hestia immediately and irreversibly.**

"I don't think he intended us to be killed before Zeus chopped him up." Hestia said. "If he did, he would have killed us as babies anyway. He is called the crooked one not for nothing."

The others were silent. After all, Hestia had a point.

**He opened his mouth—super, super wide, wider than he even realized he could. His lower jaw was hinged like on one of those massive snakes that can eat a cow. He stuffed Hestia in his mouth and swallowed her whole.**

Hestia made a noise.

**Just like: GULP. She was gone.**

**As you can imagine, Rhea completely freaked.**

"Who wouldn't?" Hera mumbled.

**"My baby!" she screamed. "You—you just—""Oh, wow." Kronos belched. "My bad. Sorry."**

"He gets more and more disgusting because of this biased narrator, Penelope Jefferson." Dionysus said.

Percy glared at Dionysus, who was already drinking some wine.

**Rhea's eyes bugged out. She screamed some more. She would have launched herself at Kronos and pummeled him with her fists, or ordered her lions to attack, but she was afraid of hurting the baby that was now stuck inside him.**

"Nah. Kronos would have teared her apart." Ares said.

**"Cough her up!" Rhea demanded."Can't," Kronos said. "I have this super-strong stomach. Once something goes down, it doesn't come back up."**

"Something that Zeus learned from father. Reasoning to wife." Poseidon said.

**"How could you swallow her?" she shouted. "That was our child!""Yeah, about that…" Kronos tried to look apologetic. "Listen, babe, it wasn't going to work out with that kid.""Work out?""There was this curse." Kronos told her what Ouranos had prophesied. "I mean, come on, sweetcakes! That baby wasn't even a proper Titan. She was trouble, I could tell! The next kid will be better, I'm sure."**

"And paranoia too. I guess you're working your way up to become a Kronos, Zeus." Hades said.

**This sounded perfectly reasonable to Kronos, but for some reason Rhea wasn't satisfied. She stormed off in a rage. You'd think Rhea would never forgive him. I mean, your husband eats your firstborn child like a slider hamburger….Your typical mother isn't going to forget that.**

"The situation is complicated here." Hera said.

**But Rhea's situation was , Kronos had swallowed the baby Hestia whole. Hestia, like her parents, was technically immortal. She couldn't die, even inside her father's stomach. Gross in there? Yes. A little claustrophobic? You bet. But fatal? No.**

"Actually, his stomach was a space where time was frozen. We were unaware of anything until Zeus rescued us." Demeter said.

**She's still alive, Rhea consoled herself. I can find a way to get her back. That calmed her down a little, though she didn't have a plan. She couldn't use force to get her way. Rhea was a gentle goddess. Even if she tried to fight, most of the strongest Titans, like Hyperion and that big goon Atlas, would back Kronos up.**

"Yep!" Piper said.

**She couldn't risk a sneak attack with a knife or the scythe or even her lions, because that might hurt the baby.**

"Yep!" Piper said again.

**Maybe you're thinking, Wait a minute. If the kid is immortal, why is Rhea worried about hurting her?**

"No need to tell us!" Hephaestus growled.

**But, see, immortals can be hurt badly, crippled, or mutilated. An injury might not kill them, but they also don't always heal from damage. They just stay crippled forever. You'll see some examples of that later on. Rhea wasn't about to cut open Kronos and risk chopping up her baby, because being in pieces is no way to live, especially when you live forever.**

"Reason no 1 why Kronos hates the gods." Hermes pointed out.

**She couldn't divorce Kronos, because nobody had invented divorce yet.**

"Even if, she would still be afraid to do so." Nico said.

**And even if they had, Rhea would have been too scared to try.**

"At least I haven't used his exact words." Nico said in relief.

**Can you blame her? As you may have noticed, Kronos was one crazy piece of work. Rhea had known that fact ever since he chopped up their dad with the scythe and then walked around the after-party in his ichor-stained shirt shouting, "Awesome murder, guys! High five!"**

"That's scary!" Leo said.

**She couldn't run, because Kronos was lord of the whole world. Unless she wanted to jump into Tartarus (which she didn't),**

"And which she wouldn't. Tartarus is the worst." Annabeth said. All of them nodded in agreement.

**there was no place to go. Her best bet was to stick it out, bide her time, and wait until she found a way to get Hestia back. Kronos tried to be nice to her. He bought her presents and took her out to dinner, as if that could make her forget about the baby in his stomach.**

"His inner Ouranos is showing up." Poseidon said.

**When Kronos thought enough time had passed—like three or four days—**

"That's enough time? Say what?" Frank said, not believing his ears.

**he insisted that they try to have more kids.**

"Is he crazy?" Hazel asked.

"He just wants to see a baby titan." Piper said.

**Why? Maybe he had a secret death wish. Maybe he became obsessed with Ouranos's prophecy and wanted to see if the next kid would be a proper Titan or one of those horrible, too-powerful, too perfect little gods.**

"Its a too perfect little goddess, I'm afraid." Athena said.

**So Rhea had another baby—a little girl even cuter than the first.**

"I'm cuter than you!" Demeter sticked out her tongue at Hestia.

**Rhea named her Demeter. Rhea dared to hope. Demeter was so adorable, maybe she would melt Kronos's heart. He couldn't possibly feel threatened by this little bundle of joy.**

"But she wouldn't." Aphrodite said sadly.

**Kronos took the child in his arms and saw right away that Demeter was another goddess. She glowed with an aura even more powerful than Hestia's. She was trouble with a capital tau. This time he didn't hesitate. He opened his jaws and swallowed her down. Cue the screaming fit from Mom. Cue the apologies.**

The silence was thickening in the throne room. Demeter looked like she just aged up another millania.

**Rhea was seriously tempted to call out her lions, but now the stakes were even higher. Kronos had two kids in there.**

"Expecting you to say that." Nico said.

**I know, you're thinking it must've been getting crowded in the Titan lord's gut. But gods are kind of flexible about their size. Sometimes they are huge. Sometimes they're no bigger than humans.I was not there in Kronos's stomach, thankfully, but I'm guessing the little immortal babies just made themselves small. They continued to mature, but they didn't get any bigger. They were like springs getting wound up tighter and tighter, hoping that someday they would get to burst out fully grown.**

Hestia sighed. "Percy, its a space that time is stuck."

"This is my version." Percy said, putting his hands in sky.

**And every day praying that Kronos wouldn't have hot sauce with his dinner.**

"He wouldn't even know what sauce was." Piper said.

**Poor Rhea. Kronos insisted they try again. "The next child will be better," he promised. "No more swallowing babies!"**

"No promises-" Apollo sang.

**The third kid? Also a girl. Rhea named her Hera, and she was the least Titan-ish, most godly yet. Rhea was indeed the Great Mother. In fact, she was a little too good at it. Every child she had was better and more powerful than the one before.**

"The younger they're, more powerful they grow." Zeus said proudly.

**Rhea didn't want to take little Hera to Kronos, but it was a tradition back then. Dad got to hold the baby. It was one of those natural laws that Themis always insisted on.**

"This is why I hate tradition." Hermes said.

**(There was also a natural law against eating your kids, but Themis was too afraid to mention that to Kronos.)**

"Figures." Piper muttered.

**And so Rhea mustered her courage. "My lord, may I present your daughter Hera."GULP.**

"Even Kronos couldn't listen Hera's wailings." Dionysus said. Hera glared at him. "What? I just praised your pipes, and if you can't take that-" he shrugged.

**This time, Rhea left the throne room without throwing a fit. She was too numb with pain and misery and disbelief. She had married a pathological liar who was also a murderer and a cannibal baby-eater.**

"He's baby eater, but he isn't cannibal. Cannibal means a person who eats another person of his own species, gods and titans are two species." Annabeth said.

"Are you defending Kronos?" Percy asked.

"Just pointing out some facts. Your portrayal of Kronos is somewhat biased." Annabeth said.

**Could things be any worse?**

"Yes." Hazel said.

**Oh, wait! He was also the king of the universe with lots of powerful henchmen, so she couldn't fight back or run . Things were more times she gave birth to perfect, lovely god babies.**

"Us!" Poseidon and Hades said.

**The fourth child was a boy named Hades. Rhea hoped Kronos would let him live, because every dad wants a son to play catch with right?**

"Kronos and Hades playing catch? Nope, nope, nope!" Demeter said.

**Nope. Down the hatch, matey!**

"Have got any interest in poetry, Percy Jackson?" Apollo asked.

"Nah, just rhymed it." Percy smoothly slithered.

**The fifth child was another boy, Poseidon. Same story. SNARF.**

"Noo! Poor little me!" Poseidon dramatically wailed.

**At this point, Rhea fled the palace. She wept and wailed and didn't know what to do. She went to her brothers and sisters, her nieces and nephews, anyone who would listen. She pleaded for help. The other Titans were either too scared of Kronos (like Themis), or they worked for Kronos (like Hyperion) and told her to stop whining.**

"Poor mom!" Six elder Olympians said.

**Finally Rhea visited her sister Phoebe at the Oracle of Delphi, but sadly even the Oracle had no advice for her. Rhea ran to the nearest meadow, threw herself on the ground, and began to cry. Suddenly she heard whispering from the earth. It was the voice of Gaea**

"Second step of her plan." Athena muttered.

**, who was still asleep; but even in her dreams the Earth Mother couldn't stand to hear the wailing of her lovely daughter. When you are ready to deliver your next child, Gaea's voice whispered, go to Crete to give birth! You will find help there! This child will be different! He will save the others!**

"That would be me!" Zeus raised his master bolt and let out a thunder. Jason grinned madly.

"Drama queen." Poseidon muttered.

**Rhea sniffled and tried to pull herself together. "Where is Crete?"**

"In Italy." Nico said.

**It's an island in the south, Gaea's voice said. You take the Ionian Sea down to, like, Kalamata. Then you turn left and—You know what? You'll find it.**

"She sounds like Hades when he was bored." Athena said.

**When the time came and Rhea started to get very big in the belly, she took a few deep breaths, composed herself, and waddled into the throne room."My lord Kronos," she said, "I am off to Crete. I will be back with the baby."**

"Very smooth, mom." Poseidon said.

**"Crete?" Kronos scowled. "Why Crete?"**

"He surely was paranoid." Apolo said.

**"Well," Rhea said, "you know how Koios and Phoebe sometimes have glimpses of the future?""Yeah?""I didn't want to spoil the surprise, but they prophesied that if I had this child in Crete, it would please you best of all! And of course, my lord, I am all about pleasing you!"**

"How to identify that your wife is going to betray you? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, she acts extra pleasant! That's the most valuable lesson today!" Hermes said.

**Kronos frowned. He was suspicious, but he also thought: Hey, I've eaten five kids, and Rhea is still here. If she were going to try something fishy, she would've done it , by now his thoughts were getting a little sluggish. He had five young gods shifting around in his gut, fighting for space, so he always felt like he'd just eaten a massive dinner and needed a nap.**

"I don't think that would effect." Athena said. "But I do suspect that this is work of Gaea."

**I mean, five gods in one stomach—dang. That's enough for doubles tennis, including a ref.**

"I should make you a minor god of theatre, Penny Jensen!" Dionysus declared.

"I accept the praise but no thanks, I don't want to be a god right now."

**They'd been down there so long, they were probably hoping Kronos would swallow a deck of cards or a Monopoly game.**

Audiance broke into laughter.

**Anyway, Kronos looked at Rhea and said, "You'll bring the baby to me immediately?"**

"He's anxious to eat another baby." Hazel said.

**"Of course."**

**"Okay. Off you go. Where is Crete?"**

**"Not sure," Rhea said. "I'll find it."And she did. Once she got there, she was immediately met by some helpful nymphs who had also heard the voice of Gaea. They brought Rhea to a cozy, well-hidden cave at the base of Mount Ida.**

Zeus smiled dreamily at the memory of his old home and his fostermothers.

**The nymphs' stream ran nearby, so Rhea would have lots of fresh water. The bountiful forest offered plenty to eat.**

"Quite healthy for a pregnant goddess." Artemis said.

**Yes, I know: immortals live mostly on nectar and ambrosia; but in a pinch they could eat other stuff. Being a god wouldn't be much fun if you couldn't enjoy the occasional pizza.**

"Pizzas are nice, but Cereal is better." Demeter said.

**Rhea gave birth to a healthy baby boy god. He was the most beautiful and perfect one yet.**

"And the headache of the cosmos who thinks he's better than everyone else." Poseidon said.

**Rhea named him Zeus, which, depending on who you ask, either means Sky or Shining or simply Living. I personally vote for the last one, because I think at this point Rhea had simple hopes for this kid—keep him alive and away from hostile stomachs.**

"Its living." Zeus confirmed.

**Zeus began to cry, maybe because he sensed his mother's anxiety. The sound echoed through the cave and out into the world—so loud that everyone and their Titan mother knew a baby had been born.**

"Zeus was always a whiner. This proves it." Hades said.

**"Oh, great," Rhea muttered. "I promised to bring the child to Kronos immediately. Now word will get back to Kronos that it's baby-swallowing time."**

"Honey, you has a baby to swallow!" Leo said in his best wifey voice.

**The cave floor rumbled. A large stone emerged from the dirt—a smooth, oval rock exactly the same size and weight as a baby god.**

"Not excatly. An animated baby made out of rock." Zeus said. "Otherwise how do you think mom got past Kronos?" He asked from Percy.

**Rhea wasn't stupid. She knew this was a gift from Gaea. Normally, you would not be excited if your mom gave you a rock for a present, but Rhea understood what to do with it. She wrapped the stone in swaddling clothes and gave the real baby Zeus to the nymphs to take care of. She just hoped she could pull off the switcheroo once she got back to the palace.**

"And she did very well." Poseidon said.

**"I'll visit as often as I can," Rhea promised the nymphs. "But how will you care for the baby?""Don't sweat it," said Neda, one of the nymphs. "We can feed him honey from the bees nearby. And for milk, we have an awesome immortal goat."**

"Bet he's awesomer than goat boy!" Leo said.

"He is not." Annabeth said.

"Five drachmas on, deal?" Leo asked.

"Deal." Annabeth confirmed.

**"A what, now?" Rhea nymphs brought in their goat Amaltheia, who produced excellent magical goat milk in many different flavors, including low fat, chocolate, and baby formula.**

"Tastiest milk ever!" Zeus said.

**"Nice goat," Rhea admitted.**

"Aha! Pay up!" Leo said.

"Nah, she never said that goat is better than any satyr. Seems like its a stalemate." Annabeth said.

**"But what if the baby cries? Kronos has incredible hearing up there on Mount Othrys. You may have noticed this kid has a set of lungs on him. Kronos will suspect something."**

"He does have a set of lungs. One of his favourite hobbies is throwing tantrums." Dionysus said.

**Neda considered this. She led Rhea to the cave entrance and called out to the Earth Mother: "Oh, Gaea! I know you're asleep, and all. Sorry to disturb you. But we could use some help guarding this kid! Preferably some very loud help!"**

"Kouretes!" Zeus couldn't help but smile.

**The ground rumbled again. Three new helpers emerged, born of dirt and the spilled blood of Ouranos (like I said, that stuff got everywhere). The new guys were large, hairy humanoids, dressed in fur and feathers and leather like they were on their way to some primeval festival deep in the rain forest. They were armed with spears and shields, so they looked more like headhunters than nursemaids."WE ARE THE KOURETES!" one shouted at the top of his lungs. "WE WILL HELP!"**

"Birds of a feather flock together." Athena said. Zeus quirked his eyebrows at her.

**"Thank you," Rhea said. "Do you have to speak so loudly?""THIS IS MY INSIDE VOICE!" the warrior Zeus began crying again. The three warriors immediately busted out some sweet tribal dance moves, beating their spears on their shields and shouting and chanting. They covered up the crying just fine.**

**For some reason, Baby Zeus seemed to like the noise. He went to sleep in the nymph Neda's arms, and the Kouretes stopped.**

"Baby Zeus is so cute!" Aphrodite cooed. The rest joined in her cooeings.

**"Okay, well," Rhea said, her ears popping, "looks like you have things under control here." She hefted her fake baby. "Wish me luck."**

"Good luck!" Everybody whispered.

**Once she got back to Mount Othrys, Rhea stormed into the throne room with her swaddled boulder. She was terrified her plan wouldn't work, but after so many years married to Kronos, she was learning to be a good actress.**

"And Gaea whispering to her ear helped too." Zeus said.

**She marched right up to King Cannibal and shouted, "This is the best baby yet! A fine little boy named, uh, Rocky! And I suppose you're going to eat him!"**

"Rocky?" Frank grinned. "If I didn't know better, I would say Kronos would just identify the rock.

**Kronos grimaced. Honestly, he wasn't excited about swallowing another baby god. He was full. But when you're king, you do what you have to do.**

Zeus nodded.

**"Yeah-sorry, hon," he said. "I have to. Prophecy, and all."**

**"I hate you!" she screamed. "Ouranos was a horrible father, but at least he didn't swallow us!"Kronos snarled. "Give me that child!""No!"Kronos roared. He unhinged his jaw and showed his extreme mouth-opening skills. "NOW!"He snatched up the swaddled boulder and stuffed it down his throat without even looking at it, just as Rhea had hoped.**

Dionysus clapped loudly. Everyone gave him weird looks. "What? Her acting skills were awesome!" He said, putting his hands in air.

**In Kronos's belly, the five undigested young gods heard the rock rolling down the esophagus.**

"No, we didn't!" The five grown gods said.

**"Incoming!" yelled Poseidon.**

"I didn't do that!" Poseidon said.

**They shifted—as much as they could in the cramped space—and Rocky landed in their midst.**

"This is kinda funny. I'm playing along." Demeter said. Then the other four gods looked at each other, then agreed to do so.

**"This is not a baby," Hades noticed. "I think it's a rock."**

"Hades was always observant." Hestia praised.

**He was observant that , in the throne room, Rhea threw an Oscar-worthy tantrum. She screamed and stomped her feet and called Kronos all kinds of unflattering names.**

"I nominate Rhea, daughter of Gaea for the Oscar award." Piper said sarcastically.

**"RO-O-CCCKY!" she wailed. "NO-O-O-O-O-O-O!"**

Laughter of crowd echoed in the throne room.

**Kronos started to get a bad stomachache.**

"Probably rocky doing some mischeif." Poseidon said.

**"That kid was filling," he complained. "What have you been feeding him?"**

"Oh I don't know, vitamins for ears?" Percy suggested. Grover turned red as a beet.

**"Why should you care?" Rhea wailed. "I will never have another child again!"That was okay with Kronos. He was stuffed.**

"Had enough?" Apollo asked.

**Rhea ran screaming out of the throne room, and he didn't try to stop , things quieted down in the palace. Kronos was now convinced he had thwarted the curse of Ouranos. No way could his children displace him, since he knew exactly where they all were. He was the king of the cosmos and would never be overthrown!**

"Sweet dreams!" Nico whispered sarcastically.

**Meanwhile, Rhea visited Mount Ida whenever she could. Her baby boy began to grow up, and Rhea made sure he heard lots of bedtime stories about his horrible father and his five undigested siblings who were just waiting to be rescued from Kronos's gut.**

"Nah, mom don't love you guys that much. She loves me better." Zeus said to others.

**So you know that when Zeus comes of age, there's going to be a father-son smackdown of epic proportions. If you want a "happily ever after" ending**

"Famous ending for many stories." Hermes said.

**for Kronos and his Titans, I would stop reading now. Because in the next chapter, Zeus goes nuclear.**

"Yes, its my tale!" Zeus grinned and took the book from Hestia, then began to read the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Zeus started to read, holding his masterbolt by one arm.

**The Olympians bash some heads**

"That got to be hurt." Hazel said.

**Zeus HAD A GOOD CHILDHOOD ON MOUNT IDA.**

"Spoilt brat!" Poseidon and Hades whispered.

**He spent his days romping around the countryside with nymphs and satyrs,**

"He's not that closer to nymphs or our kind that much now." Grover whispered.

**"Ahem-" Zeus cleared his throat. "I'm a god with many duties satyr.I can't spend my time as a playful young god."**

"Nah, he's suffering symptoms of being a king, Grover. Just like Kronos." Demeter said.

**learning to fight with his loud friends the Kouretes,**

"Open tribal style!" Leo made a short gangnam dance.

**eating his fill of honey and magical goat milk (yum!),**

Zeus sighed dreamily.

**and of course never going to school, because school hadn't been invented yet.**

"Aww, that's not fair." Frank stated.

"Life. Isn't. Fair." Nico said, in his best Snape voice.

He looked somewhat bitter though. Even Nico came to let go of his grudge at Zeus, he had never forgot what they have to suffer. It helped that he didn't remember his mother that much.

**By the time he was a young adult god, he had grown into a good-looking dude—**

"Look Poseidon " Zeus said. "Even your kid admits I'm good looking."

"Yeah, I can't deny that-" Percy said. "-but considering all things, anyone would say Poseidon is better looking than Zeus."

"Burn!" Leo gasped.

**all tan and ripped from his time in the forest and at the beach. He had short black hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and eyes as blue as the sky, though they could cloud over very fast when he got angry.**

"How does that happen?" Piper asked. Zeus looked at her, his eyes slowly turned dark grey colour of a raining sky.

"Okay, we get the point Zeus. Now stop intimidating my daughter." Aphrodite said.

**One day his mom, Rhea, came to visit on her chariot pulled by lions.**

"This is not going to be good for him." Jason muttered

**"Zeus," she said, "you need a summer job."**

"Ooooh! The responsibilities of the life is chasing him down!" Apollo sang.

**Zeus scratched his beard. He liked the word summer. He wasn't so sure about the word job.**

"A good king is never unsure, Percy Jackson!" Zeus boomed.

"But a prince can be." Percy pointed out. "Besides, you're not that good of a king. Don't shoot me, just read the book and understand.

 **Zeus growled.** **"What did you have in mind?"**

"Cup bearer post at Kronos' ranks. Surprisingly Zeus succed at that, with his big ego, he was bound to fail." Poseidon said.

"May be Gaea covered his tracks." Hermes suggested.

"Why can't any of my family trust my skills? Zeus moaned.

**Rhea's eyes gleamed. She had been planning her revenge on Kronos for a long time.**

"A fifth mode for gaming systems! The evil genius mode!" Leo exclaimed.

**Now, looking at her son—so confident, strong, and handsome—she knew the time had come.**

"She is what? Thanos?" Nico asked.

**"There's an opening at the palace for a cupbearer," she said.**

"From the depth, to the top!" Zeus exclaimed.

**"But I have no experience bearing cups," Zeus said.**

"And he is whining." Hestia teased.

**"It's easy," Rhea promised. "Whenever King Kronos asks for a drink, you bring it to him.**

"Um, is it that easy though? I mean, Serving your dad who has your five siblings in his tummy?" Hazel asked.

**The pay isn't great,**

"But it has its own benifits." Hermes whispered secretively.

**but the job has good side benefits, such as overthrowing your father and becoming lord of the cosmos."**

"And cookies from Rhea wouldn't hurt either." Leo added

**"I'm down with that," Zeus said.**

"Dad is working on the way to become the king." Jason said.

**"But won't Kronos recognize me as a god?"**

"Good question. I don't know about you, but I can transform into a titan form." Aphrodite said.

"Must be your father's bloodline." Ares said.

**"I've been thinking about that," Rhea said. "Your siblings have survived in Kronos's gut all these years and, like you, they're fully grown by now. That means they must have the power to change their size and shape.**

"In reality, our growth accelerated." Hestia said. "But playing for Percy's story, lets say that we were grown and playing monopoly in father's stomach."

"Shame you haven't got Mythomagic then." Annabeth said, much embarrassment for Nico.

**You should have that power, too. See if you can make yourself appear less godly, more…Titan-ish."**

" Congratulations, Percy Jackson. You created a word." Athena praised. But the real praise for Percy was Annabeth's proud smile.

**Zeus considered that. He had already discovered his ability to change shape. Once, he'd scared his caretaker nymphs by transforming into a bear.**

"I like bears." Ares suddenly said.

**Another time he'd won a footrace with some satyrs by transforming into a wolf.**

"You cheated!" Grover yelled.

"Trust me satyr, that's what they all said." Zeus said, his eyes were gleaming mischievously.

**The satyrs claimed he'd cheated, but he totally hadn't. It was a footrace.**

"For this once, I agree with your son." Zeus said.

**Wolves ran on their feet. It's not like he'd turned into an eagle (which he could also do).**

"Wow. I also can. May be we should have a race." Frank suggested.

"You will be lost. Zeus would control the wind for his advantage." Annabeth pointed out.

**The only Titan that Zeus had ever seen up close was his mother, but he knew Titans were generally bigger than he was.**

"Big bawd twitans!" Leo exclaimed.

**They didn't radiate power the way he did. They gave off a slightly different vibe—more violent and rougher around the edges. He imagined himself as a Titan. When he opened his eyes, he was taller than his mom for the first time.**

"You were successful!" Aphrodite said. Zeus couldn't help but smile proudly. Then he turned into his titan form, and reverted back.

"Showoff." Hades muttered.

**He felt as if he'd slept badly after a hard day strangling his enemies.**

"Namely Poseidon, Hades, Kronos and Percy Jackson." Hera said. Percy pouted, others gave her odd looks.

"What? I can't stop his mutterings in sleep!" Hera exclaimed.

**"Well done!" Rhea said. "Now, let's go to your job interview."**

"Then somehow, Zeus became Nectar boy for titans " Hermes said.

**When Zeus saw Mount Othrys for the first time, his jaw dropped. The palace was huge. Its gleaming black towers rose into the clouds like greedy fingers grasping for the stars.**

"That's scary." Piper said.

**The fortress was meant to inspire fear.**

"That's why its scary." Leo imitated Piper.

**Zeus understood that immediately. But it also seemed lonely and dismal—not a fun place to be king. Zeus decided that if he ever got his own crib, it would be much cooler than Othrys.**

"Come on. I think Othrys is lot cooler than Olympus." Nico said.

"Nah, you're being the death boy." Grover teased.

**He wouldn't go so heavy on the whole "Lord of Darkness" look.**

"That's my job." Hades said calmly.

**His palace would be brilliant, blinding white.**

"It cause maintenance problems though." Dionysus said. "But no worries, we're gods, yay!" He cheered sarcastically.

**One thing at a time, he told himself. I have to bear cups first.**

"Zeus in his best; man on the job mood." Poseidon joked.

**Rhea escorted her son into the royal hall, where Old King Cannibal was snoozing on his throne.**

"Cannibal means-" Piper tried to say.

"For the sake of Zeus Pipes, shut up!" Percy snapped.

**The years had not been kind to Kronos, which was ironic, since he was the lord of time. He hadn't aged, exactly, but he seemed tired and listless.**

"He's bitter and tired." Hestia said. "He is through a lot. He didn't put up much fight with us, even if he could."

**Making mortal life forms wither and die no longer amused him. Stepping on humans didn't make him laugh like it used to, despite their cute little shrieks.**

"Cute little shrieks? If you're watching movies next time, call me right in the moment. I'll be there with some-"

Annabeth's glare silenced him up.

**He'd put on weight from eating and drinking so much. The five gods in his stomach didn't help.**

"Yeah, we were playing hide and seek that time." Poseidon said sarcastically. "Hera counted, I hid in his blood, Hades in his bones, Hestia in his fat and Demeter in his arms. So Hera never couldn't find any of us, because she always searched in his brains." He explained further.

**They'd gotten bigger and heavier over the years. They were constantly trying to break out by climbing up Kronos's throat.**

"Another game we used to play. I always won." Demeter sighed dramatically.

"You used wines, and that's cheating." Poseidon said

"So not." Demeter said. "I was just using my powers."

**Their attempts were unsuccessful, but they gave Kronos terrible acid reflux.**

"Yeah, it was like hurricanes." Poseidon said.

**Rhea approached the throne. "My lord, I have someone for you to meet!"**

"Hi, I'm Zeus. I don't know you would recognize me, but I'm your long lost son. I'm here to be swallowed." Dionysus bellowed.

**Kronos snorted and opened his eyes. "I wasn't asleep!" He blinked at the handsome young Titan who stood before him. "Who…?"**

"He's not doctor!" Nico said.

**The young immortal bowed low. "I am Zeus, my lord." Zeus had decided to use his real name,**

"Nah, I used Perseus." Zeus said sarcastically.

**because—why not? Kronos had never heard it. "I would like to be your cupbearer."**

"He could have used some other ways to win his favour though. Like Loki won grandmaster's favour. He can transform into a girl titan, you know." Piper winked.

Zeus looked like he was going to vomit on the book

"For his credit, Kronos never cheated on Rhea. At least he knows where his loyalties lie." Hera said. .

**Kronos studied the newcomer's face. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar—the sparkle in his eyes, the crooked way he smiled.**

"How can Kronos miss that Zeus is his carbon copy?" Poseidon wondered.

**Of course all the Titans were related. Maybe that was it.**

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jason said sarcastically.

**Kronos had so many nieces and nephews these days, he couldn't keep track of them all. Still, he found this young one unsettling….**

"Its because who he is." Hades said.

**He looked around, trying to remember exactly who had introduced the boy, but Rhea had already faded into the shadows.**

"Wow. He has some of Ouranos' qualities " Frank stated

**Kronos's stomach was too full and his thoughts were too sluggish for him to stay suspicious for very long.**

"Because of children in his tummy." Nico said.

**"Well," he said to the boy, "do you have any experience bearing cups?"**

"The interview continues." Percy said.

**Zeus grinned. "No, my lord. But I'm a quick learner. I can also sing, dance, and tell satyr jokes."**

"Satyr jokes? You seem to be an interesting individual, my lord!" Grover mock bowed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes, let me tell you one. Once upon a time, there was a satyr. He though taunting at Zeus was a good idea. He ended up in a plate of at it, and life turned so good. Everyone lived happy and peaceful." Zeus said very slowly.

**Zeus burst into a song the nymphs had taught him. Then he demonstrated some Kouretes dance moves.**

"Now we know what's wrong with Apollo and why." Artemis said.

**It was the most interesting thing that had happened on Mount Othrys in a long time.**

"Zeus dancing and singing? No way. This is why I don't live in Olympus. Once you hear him in the shower, you would run thousand miles." Poseidon said.

"Couldn't agree more. I plot against demigods during Zeus's bath time." Hera said evily.

"Do us a favour and don't bath, Lord Zeus!" Demigods pleaded.

**Other Titans gathered in the throne room to watch. Soon they were cheering and laughing. Even Kronos had a smile on his face**

"He knows how to smile. I'm impressed." Dionysus said.

**"You're hired," Kronos said. "In fact, I'm thirsty."**

**"One cup, coming up!" Zeus hustled off to find the kitchen, where he filled a golden chalice with ice-cold nectar.**

" Dutiful, as always." Demeter muttered.

**In no time, Zeus became the most popular servant in the palace. He bore cups like nobody's business. His singing was as clear as the streams on Mount Ida. His satyr jokes were so edgy, I can't tell them in a family-friendly book.**

"Servants are always the dangerous type. Look at Merlin, he was the most powerful sorcerer ever in the movie, yet he was a clumsy servant." Grover said.

**He always knew exactly what Kronos would like to drink—hot spiced nectar, cold nectar with a twist of lemon, nectar spritzer with a little cranberry juice.**

Dionysus licked his lips.

**He also introduced the Titans to drinking contests, which were very popular with the satyrs back on Mount Ida.**

"They're still popular. You're looking at a ten times champion." Grover said."

"I'm only a nine time champion." Zeus whispered.

Grover smirked.

**Everybody at the table started chugging at the same time. The fastest drinker won. What did he win? Well, nothing—but it was a great way to show off, because nothing looks more manly (or Titanly) than having nectar dribbling down your chin and all over your shirt.**

"We should do this sometimes." Piper said.

**These contests rekindled some of Kronos's competitive spirit. Sure, he was king of the universe, but he was still the youngest of twelve kids. He couldn't allow his brothers or nephews to be better than him at anything.**

"He and Zeus are awfully the same." Poseidon said.

**Despite his constantly full stomach, he got to the point where he could chug a full goblet of nectar in three seconds, and Titan goblets are the size of water cooler jugs.**

"I'm surprised at the size of his stomach. I wish I had that space." Leo said dreamily.

**He trusted Zeus to fill his glass with whatever would go down the smoothest.**

"And Kronos vomited the smoothest of all, Mustard. " Frank said.

**Which was exactly Zeus's plan.**

"Evil genius mode." Hazel said.

**One night when Kronos was dining with his favorite lieutenants, Zeus mixed some special brews for the drinking contest.**

"Is Zeus a potions master now?" Nico asked.

**The nymphs back on Mount Ida had taught him a lot about herbs and stuff. He knew which plants could make you drowsy, which ones could make you dizzy, and which could make You feel so terrible, your stomach would want to exit your body.**

"You never show your true love for nature at all." Demeter complained.

**For the king's guests, Zeus mixed some sleepy-time extra-dizzy nighty-night nectar. For Kronos, he mixed a special blend of nectar and mustard. Some versions of the story will say Zeus used wine,**

"Wine isn't invented yet, Jordan!" Dionysus said."

**but that can't be right, because wine hadn't been invented yet. We'll get to that later.**

"That's right." Dionysus nodded.

**Anyway, the stuff in Kronos's goblet was über-nasty. Zeus set it aside and waited for the right moment.**

**Dinner started out as usual, with lots of drinking, eating, and catching up on the Titan news of the day.**

"They're in a dire need of a good messenger like me." Hermes said.

**Zeus kept the nectar flowing. He entertained the guests with his jokes and his singing. Toward the end of the evening, when everybody was content and relaxed and sleepy, Zeus began boasting about the king's drinking skill.**

"Who knew Zeus was a master of tricking?" Hades said.

"That's how Hermes gets his powers." Zeus said back.

**"Kronos is the boss at drinking!" he proclaimed. "You should see him. The guy is insane. I mean his record is, what—three seconds?"**

"One second." Zeus said.

**"Urg," Kronos said. He was full already and had been hoping to avoid a drinking contest.**

"Filled with five children, that's right you old miserable canni-mmph." Annabeth closed Percy's mouth with her hand.

**"If he wanted to," Zeus said, "he could drink faster than all of you! I bet he would set a new world record tonight. Wouldn't you love to see that?"**

"Yeah, No." Nico said.

**Atlas, Hyperion, Koios, and the others cheered and called for a contest.**

"If they ever knew." Hades sighed.

**Kronos really wasn't in the mood, but he couldn't decline. His honor as a super-chugger was at stake. He gestured for Zeus to bring in another round.**

"Here goes our chugging champion!" Piper cheered.

**Zeus ran to the kitchen and fetched his special concoctions. He offered the guests their sleepy time nectar, then served Kronos last, giving the king no time to smell his brew before yelling,**

"Yelling what?" Jason asked.

**"Ready,**

**set,**

**go!"**

**The Titans gulped down their tasty beverages. Kronos immediately noticed that his nectar tasted weird, but it was a contest.**

"And he also had the competitive spirit of Zeus." Demeter sighed.

**He couldn't stop chugging. The whole point was to drain the cup! Maybe his taste buds were just a little off. After all, Zeus had never steered him wrong.**

"Don't trust your servants way too much!" Apollo singsonged.

**Kronos drained his nectar in two and a half seconds. He slammed the goblet upside down on the table and shouted: "I win! I—"**

"Yuck!" Annabeth said. "Mega yuck." Piper agreed. "Super yuck!" Grover joined. Percy and Annabeth looked at Grover remembering something.

**The next sound out of his mouth was like a walrus getting the Heimlich maneuver.**

**There's no pleasant way to say it. Kronos puked. He puked a puke worthy of the king of the universe. It was a kingly puke.**

"Only you find a way to make a horrendous moment hillarious, Percy Jackson." Aphrodite gagged.

**His stomach tried to propel itself out his throat. His mouth hinged open all by itself—the better to upchuck you with, my dear—and shot out five gods, a very slimy rock, quite a lot of nectar, somebiscuits, and a chariot license plate. (No, I don't know how all that got in there.)**

"You added them." Frank reminded.

**The five disgorged gods immediately grew to full-size adults right there on the dining table. The Titan guests stared in amazement, their minds working slowly due to the spiked nectar..**

"There was times I wonder that Percy drank few drops of the spiked nectar." Annabeth whispered.

**As for Kronos, he was still trying to catapult his guts across the throne room.**

**"Get-" He retched. "—them!"**

"Famous last words." Leo and Hermes said same time. "Jinxed, you owe me a drink." They recited.

**Atlas was the first to react. He yelled, "Guards!" and tried to stand, but he was so dizzy, he fell right into Hyperion's lap.**

"Ares falls into Apollo's lap sometimes. Must be a family thing." Dionysus said.

**Zeus wanted to lunge for his father's scythe. He wanted to slice up the old cannibal on the spot,**

"Yeah, I was too sharp on him. But how couldn't I? He was going to destroy all of us!" Percy said.

**but the other Titans were starting to recover from their shock. They might be slow and sleepy, but they had weapons.**

" Telekhine made." Hephaestus drawled.

**Meanwhile, Zeus's only weapon was a serving tray.**

"Nice weapon of choice." Leo said.

**His army consisted of five slimy, unarmed gods who had spent very little time outside a stomach, much less in combat.**

"Very unhealthy odds." Nico said.

**Guards started pouring into the throne room.**

"In every story, guards are useless. Look at Merlin series. They can be convinced, distracted or killed easily." Grover pointed out.

**Zeus turned to his confused siblings. "I'm your brother Zeus. Follow me, and I will give you freedom and revenge.**

"I can take those things on my own, thanks." Poseidon said sarcastically.

**Also honey and goat milk."**

"That's why Poseidon and I took his side. Honey and goat milk are great for cooking." Hestia joked.

**That was good enough for the gods. While Kronos retched and his fighters fumbled with their weapons, Zeus and his siblings turned into eagles and soared out of the palace.**

"Why eagles? Why couldn't they turn into butterflies?" Leo asked.

"Because Kronos would turn the into caterpillars or worst, eggs. Besides, they wanted to escape quickly." Athena said.

**"Now what?" Hades asked.**

**The six gods had gathered at Zeus's secret lair on Mount Ida, which his siblings refused to call the Zeus Cave.**

"For our excuse, that's a horrible name." Hera said.

**Zeus had briefed them on what was happening in the world, but they all knew they couldn't stay on Mount Ida very long. The nymphs had heard rumors whispered through the earth:**

"Whispered through the earth? Or whispered by the earth?" Piper had a question.

**Kronos was sending his Titans to scour the world for the escapees. He wanted them brought back, either in chains or in small pieces. He wasn't particular.**

"Alive. He wanted us alive to turn us back to babies and swallow us. That's why he lost the war." Demeter said.

**"Now we fight," Zeus said.**

"This is why Zeus is unlikable. Always in the charge." Poseidon said.

**Poseidon grunted. He'd only been out of Kronos's gut for a day, but he was already starting to dislike his youngest brother—this upstart Zeus, who thought he should be in charge just because he had rescued them.**

"Someone has a cwush with leadershwip!" Apollo sang.

**"I'm all for fighting Dad," Poseidon said, "but that requires weapons. Do you have any?"**

"Wow, he is really smart, isn't he? He knows about weapons after mere days he was reborn." Athena said sarcastically.

**Zeus scratched his ear. He hadn't really thought that far ahead. "Well, no…."**

"Jackson!" Lightning cackled around Zeus as he boomed.

**"Perhaps we can make peace," Hestia suggested.**

"Now thinking about it, I think we should have tried that option too." Poseidon said. Zeus gaped at him, before reading.

**The others stared at her as if she were crazy. Hestia was the eldest and gentlest of the gods, but her siblings didn't take her seriously.**

Hestia's siblings looked guilty. Hestia raised a hand. "There is importance of me, Percy. I'm the one who keeps the flames of western civilization. When I move, the gods has to move too, because the civilization is built up on the concept of home. I'm the most important goddess on the Olympus, and I'm not boasting." Hestia said.

**You have to wonder how the world might've been different if Hestia had been put in charge, but alas, she wasn't.**

"Actually, I'm kind of in the charge." Hestia said.

**"Uh, no," said Demeter. "I will never forgive our father. Perhaps we could steal his scythe. We could chop him up like he did Ouranos! Then I could use the scythe for something better—like cutting wheat! Did you see those beautiful fields we flew over?"**

"Like father, like daughter. In case someone doesn't know, Kronos was the titan of harvest too. He used his scythe to cut wheat too." Annabeth said.

"That relationship, Kroscythe!" Piper sighed.

**Hera scowled at her sister. "What is it with you and crops? All those years in Kronos's gut, all you ever talked about was plants, which you never even saw before today!"**

"Yeah, she was crazy about plants in there. She tried to grow wheat and barley in his kidneys." Hera sighed.

**Demeter blushed. "I don't know. I always dream about green fields. They're so peaceful and beautiful and—"**

**"My children!" said a voice from the woods.**

"Mom!" The six elder gods recited.

**Mother Rhea stepped into the clearing. She hugged each of her precious sons and daughters, weeping tears of joy over their freedom.**

"Family reunion!" Hestia said happily.

**Then she drew them together and said, "I know where you can get weapons."**

"From Ammu-nation!" Leo exclaimed.

"GTA: Vice city? Good for kids." Ares groaned. "Try Dark souls or Bloodborne. They're amazing."

"Pacman is better than any of those." Dionysus joined the argument.

"Trivia is better." Athena said.

"Ok, everyone has their own fun games, now lets go back to listening stories please?" Percy begged as Demeter opened her mouth.

**She told them the story of the Hundred-Handed Ones and the Elder Cyclopes, whom Kronos had exiled to Tartarus for a second time.**

"The Hundred-Handed Ones are incredible stonemasons," Rhea said. "They built Kronos's palace."

"Which is pretty awesome, even if Zeus wouldn't admit it." Aphrodite said.

"Which is pretty awesome," Zeus admitted.

Aphrodite gave Zeus a complex look. "I'm surprised. You can accept something."

**"They are strong, and they hate Kronos," Rhea continued. "They would be good in battle. As for the Cyclopes, they are talented blacksmiths. If anyone can forge weapons more powerful than your father's scythe, they can."**

"So do I, but I wasn't born yet, so I guess you can go to them." Hephaestus said.

**Hades's dark eyes gleamed. The idea of descending into the most dangerous, vilest part of creation somehow appealed to him.**

"Cause I'm-" Hades paused. "Hades!"

**"So we go to Tartarus, and we bring back the Cyclopes and Hundred-Handed Ones."**

"Piece of cake." Annabeth said sarcastically.

**"Piece of cake," said Hera.**

"Ugh! Never mind." Annabeth groaned.

**She knew about cake, because Kronos had eaten lots of it. The crumbs and icing were always getting in her hair.**

"That was horrible! I had to wash my hair from pool of Kronos acid." Hera (mockingly) wailed.

**"Let's go."**

**A Tartarus jailbreak may not sound like an easy thing for you or me, but six gods can accomplish a lot when they put their minds to it.**

"War makes family bonds stronger." Ares said. "Just saying."

**Hades found a cave system that led deep into the Underworld. He seemed to have a knack for navigating the tunnels. He led his siblings along the course of a subterranean river called the Styx until it spilled over a cliff into the void of Tartarus.**

"Entrance to the pit. Newly deceased monsters, you're welcome!" Grover said sarcastically.

**The gods became bats**

"They already are!" Leo argued.

**(you could argue that they were already bats, but you know what I mean)**

"He has your rebellious streak Poseidon. Maybe six month spending with a plough would add some adjustment to his attitude." Demeter commented.

**and flew into the abyss.**

**At the bottom, they found a gloomy landscape of rock spires, gray wastes, fiery pits, and poisonous fog, with all sorts of nasty monsters and evil spirits roaming about.**

Percy, Annabeth and Nico shuddered, remembering their time in the pit.

**Apparently Tartarus, the spirit of the pit, had been breeding more primordial gods down there in the darkness, and they'd been having kids of their own.**

"Erebus and Nyx had bunch of kids, Tartarus gave birth to Typhon who birthed almost all of monsters with Echidna, guess you're right." Apollo said.

**The six young gods crept around until they found the maximum-security zone, surrounded by a high brass wall and patrolled by demons. In bat form the gods could fly over the wall easily;**

"I sense a but here." Jason said.

"Welcome to club, me too." Nico said back.

**but once inside, they spotted the jailer and almost lost their nerve.**

" Kampê! " Nico whispered.

**Kronos had personally hired the most horrible monster in Tartarus to make sure his high-value prisoners never escaped.**

**Her name was Kampê.**

"In a land of myth, and time of a cannibal, the destiny of a lousy kingdom rest on the shoulders of an ugly monster. Her name: Kampê!" Grover introduced.

**I don't know if Kronos found her on Craigslist or what,**

"At that time, the function wasn't available." Frank said.

**but if the worst creatures from your nightmares had nightmares of their own, they would probably dream about Kampê.**

"Oh I don't know, how about Typhon, Scylla or Charybdis?" Hera asked.

**From the waist up, she was a humanoid female with snakes for hair. (If that sounds familiar, it's because the hairdo really caught on with other monsters later.) From the waist down, she was a four-legged dragon. Thousands of vipers sprouted from her legs like grass skirts. Her waist was ringed with the heads of fifty hideous beasts—bears, boars, wombats, you name it—always snapping and snarling and trying to eat Kampê's shirt.**

"Why would those heads need to eat Kampê's shirt? Its disgusting anyway!" Jason stated.

**Large, dark reptilian wings grew from her shoulder blades. Her scorpionlike tail swished back and forth, dripping venom. Basically, Kampê didn't get invited on many dates.**

"Maybe I should give her some makeover. Then Hades can take her out." Aphrodite wondered.

"Why me?" Hades groaned.

"Because you're the monstrous type, hon. I call your relationship- err-Kades!" Aphrodite cheered.

Hades vomited to his helm of darkness, then waved his hand over it to banish vomit. Then he put the helm in a basket full of water from Phlegethon.

**The gods watched from behind a pile of boulders as the monstrous jailer tromped back and forth, lashing the Elder Cyclopes with a fiery whip and stinging the Hundred-Handed Ones with her scorpion tail whenever they got out of line.**

"And that's a maiden too." Apollo teased.

Artemis shook her head.

**The poor prisoners were forced to work without any break—no water, no sleep, no food, nothing.**

"Poor guys indeed." Hermes said.

**The Hundred-Handed Ones spent their time at the far end of the yard, quarrying stone blocks from the hard volcanic floor. The Cyclopes worked at the closer end. They each had a forge where they smelted metals and hammered out sheets of bronze and iron. If the Cyclopes tried to sit down, or even pause long enough to catch their breaths, Kampê would leave fresh burning lash marks across their backs.**

"That was horrible! She treats them like slaves!" Piper said.

"No wonder why Briareos was afraid of her that much." Grover said.

**Even worse, the prisoners weren't allowed to finish anything they started.**

"I would have gone completely insane." Hephaestus said.

"Don't worry. You're currently working up your way to become a loon." Apollo joked.

**As soon as the Hundred-Handed Ones had a goodly stack of building blocks, Kampê forced them to break their quarried stone into rubble. Whenever the Cyclopes were on the verge of finishing a weapon or a shield or even a tool that might be dangerous, Kampê confiscated it and threw it into the bubbling pits of magma.**

"Can't they overpower her?" Nico asked. "I mean, we saw Briareos alone taking care of Kampê."

**You're probably thinking: Hey, there were six big dudes and only one Kampê. Why didn't they overpower her?**

**But Kampê had the whip. The venom in her tail could incapacitate even an Elder Cyclops for hours, leaving him writhing in pain. The dragon lady was straight-up terrifying, and the prisoners were chained around their feet so they couldn't run far.**

"Seems you got your answer son." Hades said.

**Besides, the Hundred-Handed Ones and the Cyclopes were gentle souls. Despite their looks, they were builders, not fighters. Give these dudes a bucket of Legos, and they'd be happy for days.**

"All we have to do is give a bucket of Legos? Why didn't I think about it?" Poseidon wondered.

**Zeus waited until Kampê marched to the far end of the prison yard. Then he sneaked up to the nearest Cyclops.**

"And then he thundered as usual, Kampê arrived. Mighty Olympians were slain by fearsome Kampê, Kronos killed Rhea. Happily ever after." Dionysus said in a bored voice.

**"Psst!" he called.**

"Surprise! Zeus knows subtlety!" Leo said.

**The Cyclops lowered his hammer. He turned toward Zeus, but his one big eye had been staring into the flames so long, he couldn't see who was talking.**

"I'm Thor, god of the thunder." Percy joked.

**"I am not Psst," the Cyclops said. "I am Brontes."**

"Despite what Kronos thought, they have some self esteem." Hestia said.

**Oh, boy, Zeus thought. This may take a while.**

**"Hey, Brontes." Zeus spoke slowly and cheerfully, like he was trying to coax a puppy out of its box. "I'm Zeus. I've come to rescue you."**

"You need more than that to convince him." Athena said.

**Brontes scowled. "I have heard that before. Kronos tricked us."**

"You know why they're this angry? Cause they didn't get to see those wild flowers." Grover said.

**"Yeah, I know," Zeus said. "Kronos is my enemy too. Together, we can get revenge and throw him down here. How does that sound?"**

"That's somewhat good." Annabeth praised.

**"Sounds good," Brontes said. "But how?"**

**"First we need weapons," Zeus said. "Can you make us some?"**

**Brontes shook his head. "Kampê is always watching. She will not let us finish any project."**

"No prob. Zeus is as cunning as his daddy, so he will figure out a way." Leo said.

"I would prefer smart, grandson!" Zeus said.

**"How about you each make a different part of each weapon?" Zeus suggested. "Then you can assemble them at the last second and toss them over to us. Kampê will never know."**

"That's smart." Athena complimented.

**"You are smart."**

"All to grow Zeus's big head." Poseidon said.

**"I know, right? Spread the word to your friends." Zeus crept back behind the boulders.**

"To create weapons? Or the smartness of Zeus?" Piper wondered.

**Brontes whispered the plan to his brothers Arges and Steropes. Then they tapped their hammers on their anvils in a secret code they'd developed, sending the message across the yard to the Hundred-Handed Ones—Briares, Kottos, and Gyes.**

"Very colourful names." Hazel said.

**I know that's a bunch of horrible names, but remember, Gaea didn't have much time to hold her monstrous triplets before Ouranos pitched them into Tartarus. At least they didn't end up named Huey, Dewey, and Louie.**

"No, that's your future kids!" Leo joked.

"I wouldn't let him name our kids those horrible names." Annabeth promised, then she blushed deep red, as soon as she realized what she just said. Aphrodite whistled loudly.

**The gods waited in the darkness while the Cyclopes forged pieces of the new weapons, making each one look like a harmless, incomplete doohickey. I don't know if the stuff would've gotten through airport security, but it was good enough to fool Kampê.**

"Hopefully." Zeus said. "I was pretty much doubting about my own plan."

**The next time the she-dragon turned her back and marched toward the far side of the yard, Brontes quickly assembled the first magic weapon and tossed it to Zeus.**

Zeus' hand on the masterbolt gripped it tightly.

**It looked like a bronze rocket, about four feet long, with nose cones on both ends. Zeus's hand fit perfectly around the center. As soon as he lifted it, his whole body tingled with power.**

"The beginning of a new relationship." Piper said.

"Zeusbolt or masterZeus. I ship it!" Hermes said.

**Poseidon frowned. "What is that? It's not a scythe."**

"Nah, its a pen." Leo said sarcastically.

**Sparks flew from the points. Electricity arced from one end to the other. Zeus aimed the thing at a nearby boulder, and a thousand tendrils of lightning zapped it into dust.**

"It sounds cool. Can I get a mini masterbolt dad?" Jason asked.

"Nope." Zeus said.

Piper patted on his shoulder. "Don't worry honey, he is possesive that way. But you still have the brick, right?"

Jason pouted.

**"Oh, yeah," Zeus said. "I can work with this."**

Fortunately, Kampê didn't seem to notice the blast. Maybe things exploded a lot in Tartarus.

"Especially when he farts." Leo joked.

**A few minutes later, Brontes tossed them a second weapon—a spear with three prongs. Poseidon caught it.**

Poseidon raised the trident.

**He immediately fell in love with the trident.**

"Ooh! Podent!" Aphrodite giggled. "That's another good relationship."

"Better than MasterZeus anyday." Poseidon said, kissing his trident lovingly.

"Dad!" Percy yelled in embarrassment.

**He liked pointy things! Also, he could feel the power of storms humming through the spear. When he concentrated, a miniature tornado swirled around its three points, getting faster and larger the more he focused. When he planted the spear on the ground,**

"Reasons why I fell in love with this cutie." Poseidon said, drawing his hand back and forth on his spear gently.

**the floor of the pit began to shake and crack.**

**"Best weapon," he announced. "Right here."**

"Pertide is better than Podent anyday. But Percabeth is better tham anything." Percy said.

**Brontes tossed them a third item. Hades caught this one—a gleaming bronze war helmet decorated with scenes of death and destruction.**

"Heles is better than Kades, I suppose." Hades said, shutting Piper up.

**"You get weapons," Hades grumbled. "I get a hat."**

"Someones grumpy!" Leo teased.

**He put it on and disappeared.**

"It looks like its better than Harry Potter's invisible cloak. How much?" Athena asked.

"Not for sale!" Hades hugged his helm.

**"Dude, you're invisible," Zeus said.**

**"Yeah." Hades sighed miserably. "I'm used to it."**

"You're not alone, Hades." Hestia soothed.

**"No, I mean you're actually invisible."**

"You mean invinsible." Nico said.

**"Huh." Hades willed himself to turn visible again.**

**"That is one scary hat," Demeter said.**

"No weapons for sisters, that's sexist." Artemis said.

"Takes a one to know one." Nico retorted.

For the first time of her immortal life, Artemis shut herself up.

**"Yeah," Hades agreed. "Yeah, it is."**

**He decided to try something else. He glared at his brothers, and waves of terror radiated from the helmet. Zeus and Poseidon turned pale. They started to sweat. Zeus almost dropped his new lightning maker.**

Hades gave a creepy grin of amusement.

**"Stop that!" Zeus hissed. "You're freaking me out!"**

**Hades grinned. "Okay, maybe the hat isn't so bad."**

"When the Heles started. They're so cute." Aphrodite said, resting her chin on her palms.

**Hera crossed her arms and sniffed disdainfully. "Boys and their toys. I don't suppose we get weapons? Are we just supposed to stand back and be cheerleaders while you three do the fighting?"**

"Wow, I think Artemis and Hera can get along after all." Demeter said.

"Not in thousand millanias. She wants to marry me off to Apollo." Artemis said.

"Hmm. That makes sense." Piper said.

"I know right!" Artemis replied.

"No, I mean why Hera wants to ship you two. Opposites attract!" Piper said back.

"Typical daughter of Aphrodite." Artemis muttered.

Apollo wisely refrained of putting his ideas into words.

**Zeus winked at her. "Don't worry, baby. I'll protect you."**

"Zeus and Hera sitting in a tree, - K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marraige, then comes Ares in the baby carriage." Apollo sang.

"Best song ever!" Dionysus said.

**"I think I'm going to be sick," Hera said.**

"Exactly my opinion about almost everything." Hera said.

**It's possible the Cyclopes would have made weapons for the women. But at that moment Kampê turned and marched back toward the Cyclopes. Maybe she had noticed the smoke from Zeus's lightning blast, or the swirling clouds from Poseidon's trident. Maybe she could taste the residual fear in the air from Hades's helmet. Whatever tipped her off, she detected the presence of the gods.**

"Nah, it was the smell coming from those three." Hera said, pointing towards big three.

**She raised her whip and howled, "RAWRGGGGWRRR!"**

"She knows how to welcome a guest." Frank said.

**She charged toward their hiding place, her tail lashing, the thousands of vipers around her legs dripping poison.**

"Every night in my dreams- I see you- I feel you-" Apollo played some tunes from his lyre.

**"Great," muttered Hera.**

"Looks like you have competition, Hades. Kamera!" Piper said.

"I'm happy with Kamera." Hades said. .

"It was just sarcasm!" Hera defended herself. "Besides I'm stuck with an idiot called Zeus."

"That we all agree." Poseidon said.

**He stood and raised his bronze lightning bolt. He focused all his energy into the weapon.**

**KA-BLAM!**

**A column of white-hot power shot toward Kampê—the most blinding light that had ever been seen in Tartarus.**

"Then they ate Kampê meat and got super powers and defeated titans. Happily ever after." Dionysus said.

**Kampê just had time to think Uh-oh, before the bolt blasted her into a million sizzling pieces of reptile confetti.**

"Eww." Piper said.

**"THAT'S what I'm talking about!" Zeus yelled happily.**

"Showoff." Poseidon and Hades said.

**Poseidon lowered his trident. "Man, give the rest of us a chance."**

"No, no, nope!" Hermes said.

**"You go free the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones," Zeus suggested.**

"It was a blessing came in disguise. Hekatonkires and Cyclopes are more loyal to me than Zeus." Poseidon said.

**Poseidon grumbled, but he used his trident to strike the dark chains from the prisoners' feet.**

"Finally. Those guys didn't deserve that." Hazel said.

**"Thank you," Brontes said. "We will help you fight Kronos."**

**"Excellent!" Zeus said.**

**Hera cleared her throat. "Yes, but about those weapons for the ladies—"**

"No time for that." Hermes said.

**Outside the bronze walls, monstrous roars reverberated through the pit. Every spirit and beast in Tartarus had probably seen the flash of lightning, and now they were closing in to investigate.**

"If lord of the pit showed up, even you six wouldn't have a chance." Athena pointed out.

**"We should leave," Demeter said. "Like, right now."**

"Best idea you ever had." Hades said.

**That was the best non-grain-related idea Demeter had ever had, so Hades led his siblings back to the upper world, along with their six large new friends.**

"I wouldn't say friends." Zeus said. "I would say acquaintances." Hestia gave him a look.

**Kronos wasn't an easy guy to defeat.**

"Duh!" Thalia said.

**By most accounts, the Titan War took ten years—or maybe Kronos just used his time tricks to make it seem that long, hoping the gods would give up. If so, it didn't work.**

"He did, but we Olympians are a stubborn bunch." Demeter said.

**Rhea the Great Mother visited every Titan she could, trying to persuade them to side with Zeus.**

"She was great help." Zeus said.

**Many listened. After all, Kronos wasn't the most popular leader. Almost all the female Titans either helped Zeus or stayed out of his way.**

"Themis, Mnemosyne, Leto, Phoebe, Eos, Hecate-" Apollo kept counting.

**Prometheus, the creator of humans, was smart enough to remain neutral.**

"He helped. He was the one came up with plan to defeat Othrys. He knew every nook and corner in the castle, the strong places and weak places." Zeus and Hestia said.

**Oceanus kept to himself in the depths of the ocean.**

"Thankfully. If he supported Kronos, the war would have been even more tougher." Poseidon said.

**Helios and Selene, the sun and moon, agreed not to take sides as long as they got to keep their jobs.**

"Another reason of downfall of the Othrys. They could see everything under sun and moon just like Arty and I." Apollo said.

**That left Kronos and most of the other male Titans, with Atlas as his general and champion fighter.**

"My champion!" Leo said in his best grandmaster voice.

**The gods and Titans skirmished back and forth—blowing up an island here, vaporizing a sea there. The Titans were strong and well armed. At the beginning, they held the advantage. Even withmagic Cyclops weapons, the gods weren't used to combat. It's a hard thing not to drop your trident and run when Atlas is barreling down on you, screaming and waving his sword.**

"Atlas was one tough dude, even if he was a jerk." Poseidon said.

**But the gods did learn to fight. The Cyclopes eventually armed all Zeus's allies with top-of-the Line weapons. The Hundred-Handed Ones learned to throw barrages of stones like living catapults.**

"Hundreds of them." Annabeth said.

**You're thinking, How hard can it be to throw rocks?**

"No we weren't." Leo said.

**Okay, you try throwing rocks with both hands at the same time and hitting your target. It's not as easy as it sounds. Now, imagine coordinating one hundred hands—all throwing rocks the size of refrigerators. If you're not careful, you'll spew rocks everywhere and crush yourself and your allies.**

"You have a good point there, Jackson." Athena said.

**Once the gods learned to fight, the war still took a long time, because none of the combatants on either side could die. You couldn't just stab a guy, zap him, or throw a house on him and call it a day.**

"Yes, we can't." The elder Olympians nodded.

**You had to actually capture each enemy and make sure he was hurt so badly, he would never heal.**

"That's how these kind of wars end." Ares said. He already had another bowl of pop corn, feeling some action is ahead.

**Then you had to figure out what to do with his crippled body.**

"I would throw that to my boars and bears to eat. Or my horses in chariot." Ares said.

"Wait a minute. You say your chariot has man-eating horses?" Percy asked.

"Surpise Jackson! You look like you're hiding something." Ares said said.

Percy shut his mouth up, not spilling even a word about his and Clarisse's picnic with her two elder half siblings.

**As Zeus knew, even throwing somebody into Tartarus wasn't a guarantee he would stay gone forever.**

"Let me guess, Hekatonkires and elder Cyclopes?" Jason asked.

"Nope, your great uncles." Nico replied.

**Little skirmishes weren't going to decide anything.**

"This is when Zeus comes up with a big plan." Hazel guessed.

**Finally Zeus came up with his big plan.**

**"We have to storm Mount Othrys," he told his siblings at their weekly war meeting. "A full frontal assault on their headquarters. If we do that, the hostile Titans will rally to protect Kronos. Then we can take them all down at once."**

"That would have been a suicide." Demeter said.

**"In other words," Hades said, "you want us to commit suicide."**

"Perhaps Demeter is jealous of Hades and Persephone." Aphrodite suggested.

"I would hear no more of your delusions!" Hades said.

**Poseidon leaned on his trident. "For once, I agree with Hades. If we march up the slopes of Mount Othrys, Atlas will be ready for us. His troops will have the high ground. They'll smash us flat. If we try flying in, we'll get shot out of the air. They've got plenty of anti-god missile weapons."**

"He has a point there. Wait, there were missiles then?" Leo asked.

"Plenty of them." Poseidon assured.

**Zeus's eyes gleamed. "But I've got a different plan. We'll soften them up by attacking from the next mountain over."**

"Which he came after hours of argument with Prometheus." Hestia said.

"You're taking his side way too much. What's wrong with you?" Zeus asked.

"Nothing." Hestia said smoothly.

**"Do what, now?" asked Demeter. She looked uncomfortable in her armor, even though she'd designed it herself. She'd painted a sheaf of barley and a daisy on her shield, and for her main weapon she'd chosen a fearsome garden trowel.**

"What? I have to keep the appearance!" Demeter yelled at the crowd who were roaring in laughter.

**Zeus drew a map of the Greek mainland in the dirt. Near Mount Othrys was another Greek mountain—not quite as tall, not as well known. It was called Mount Olympus.**

"Afterwards, well known, home of the gods." Nico said.

**"We scale Olympus," Zeus said. "They won't be expecting that, but Othrys will be within range of our missile weapons. The Hundred-Handed Ones will launch volleys of boulders. I'll bust out thelightning. Poseidon will summon storms and earthquakes."**

"Wait, did Hades have a job?" Piper asked.

**"And I'll turn invisible," Hades muttered.**

**Zeus clapped his brother on the shoulder. "You have an important job too. You send waves of terror through the enemy ranks.**

"You were replied." Leo said to Piper.

**Once we've destroyed their defenses, we all fly over there—"**

**"Including us three goddesses?" Demeter prompted. "We can fight too, you know."**

**"Sure!" Zeus smiled nervously. "Did you think I'd forgotten you?"**

"Yes" everybody other than Zeus said.

**"Yes," said Demeter.**

**"Uh, anyway," Zeus continued,**

"Very smooth, father." Thalia said.

**"we fly over to Mount Othrys, smash anybody who's left standing, and take them all prisoner."**

"Short and simple. I love those kind of plans." Ares said.

**Hestia wrapped herself in her plain brown shawl. "I still think we should make peace."**

"Not at that point. No." Athena said.

**"NO!" the others yelled.**

**Hera tapped the dirt map. "It's a crazy plan. I like it."**

"A proof that Hera loves crazy things. Like Zeus." Percy said.

"Crazy?" Zeus' eyes gleamed thunder blue.

"Everybody has some craziness inside of them. I'm crazy for blue cookies. If you don't zap me, I would totally send you some." Percy said.

At the mention of blue cookies, Zeus calmed down. He began to read again.

**So that night, under cover of darkness, the gods and their allies climbed Mount Olympus for the first time.**

"Secret mission!" Hermes winked.

**The next morning, as Helios rode his chick magnet into the sky, King Kronos awoke to a sound like thunder. Probably because it was thunder.**

"Its a weekend day! Let me sleep bit more!" Leo said in his best Kronos' voice.

**Storm clouds rolled in from every direction. Zeus hurled a lightning bolt that blasted the tallest tower into black marble shrapnel. The Hundred-Handed Ones chucked so many boulders toward Mount Othrys that when Kronos looked out his window, it seemed to be raining major appliances.**

**The beautiful palace domes imploded in mushroom clouds of dust. Walls crumbled. Columns fell like dominoes.**

"I taught him those imaginations." Dionysus muttered.

**The Hundred-Handed Ones had built Mount Othrys, and they knew exactly how to destroy it.**

"Sure they did." Hephaestus said proudly.

**As the palace shook, Kronos grabbed his scythe and called his brethren to attack. But the thing was**

"Why? He is the all powerful king of cosmos!" Frank stated.

**a) scythes really don't do much against boulders and lightning,**

"He can slow them down." Piper said.

**b) nobody could hear him over the noise, and**

"Kronos had a set of lungs, where do you think Zeus got his?" Poseidon pointed out.

**c) the palace was disintegrating around him.**

"He could reverse time." Annabeth suggested.

"Come on, are my reasons not valid?" Percy asked.

"Just joking seaweed brain, they mean Kronos' couldn't take the all three of them at once." Nico said.

"Back off Nico, he's taken." Annabeth threatened jokingly.

"Backing off." Nico grinned. He was fine with Percy and Annabeth, they suited for each other. Besides Will was awesome to him.

**Just as he was saying, "Titans, let's go!", a three-ton section of the ceiling collapsed on his head.**

"That wasn't the case. Though he was weakened when I and he fought." Zeus said.

**The battle was a massacre, if you can have a massacre where nobody dies.**

"No, we can't call it that." Leo said.

**A few Titans tried to counterattack, only to be buried in an avalanche of rubble and boulders.**

"It's an ambush, suckers!" Ares cheered, swallowing more and more pop corn.

**After the initial assault, the gods flew over and mopped up the resistance. Poseidon summoned earthquakes to swallow their enemies.**

Poseidon made a pose.

**Hades popped up in random places and yelled, "Boo!"**

"That's primitive Jackson. I just stood proudly and sent waves of terror." Hades said.

**His helmet of terror (or his Boo Cap, as the others called it)**

"Boo cap?" Poseidon chuckled. "You surely know how to name weapons son. What is your chosen name for masterbolt?"

"I would rather not say." Percy said, looking at Zeus's face.

**sent Titans fleeing straight off the sides of cliffs, or into the waiting arms of the Elder Cyclopes.**

**When the dust settled and the storm clouds lifted, even the gods were in awe of what they'd done.**

"Mayham, destruction, chaos! My favourite words in modern civilization." Ares said, putting pop corn in his mouth.

**Not only was Kronos's palace gone, but the entire top of Mount Othrys had been sheared away with it.**

"Poor suckers!" Ares grinned.

**Did I tell you Othrys was the highest mountain in Greece? Not anymore. Today Mount Olympus, which used to be the smaller mountain, is over nine thousand feet tall. Mount Othrys is only five thousand and change. Zeus and the Hundred-Handed Ones had basically cut the mountain in half.**

"Poor Othrys!" Hazel shook her head.

**The Cyclopes dug the Titans out of the rubble and began chaining them up. None of them got away. General Atlas and the four brothers who controlled the corners of the earth were dragged before Zeus and made to kneel.**

"Is he related to Loki or Hela?" Leo asked.

"Dear uncles and cousin, Judgement time!" Percy did his best evil snarl.

**"Ah, my dear uncles!" Zeus chuckled.**

"I didn't chuckled like that! That's- that's so horrible!" Zeus gasped.

**"Koios, Krios, Hyperion, Iapetus—you four are going straight to Tartarus, where you will remain for all time!"**

"Jail time honey." Aphrodite said.

**The four brothers hung their heads in shame, but General Atlas laughed at his captors.**

**"Puny gods!" he bellowed. Even wrapped in chains, he was intimidating.**

"For all his bias, Percy respects Atlas." Annabeth said, taking Percy's hand. Percy grinned like a mad man.

**"You know nothing of how the universe works. If you throw these four into Tartarus, the entire sky will fall! Only their presence at the four corners of the earth keeps the wide expanse of Ouranos from crashing down upon us."**

"He opened his big mouth." Hazel said.

**"Maybe." Zeus grinned. "But fortunately, Atlas, I have a solution! You're always boasting how strong you are. From now on, you're going to hold the sky up all by yourself!"**

**"What?"**

**"Brontes, Arges, Steropes," Zeus called. "He's all yours."**

**The Elder Cyclopes dragged Atlas to a distant mountaintop where the sky was very close. I don't know how they did it, but they caused the sky to form a new central support pillar—a single funnel cloud, like the bottom point of a spinning top.**

"Its a complex process." Hephaestus and Athena both said.

"No, don't want to here it. I like my brain in the prestine condition." Percy said.

**They chained Atlas to the mountain and forced the entire weight of the sky onto his shoulders.**

"Why he didn't refuse it? All was lost to him?" Piper asked.

**Now you're thinking, Why didn't he just refuse to hold it, and let the sky fall?**

**I did mention the chains, right? He couldn't run away without getting flattened. Also, it's hard to appreciate unless you've done it (which I have), but holding the sky is kind of like being stuck under a loaded barbell during a bench press. All your concentration goes into keeping that thing from crushing you. You can't lift it, because it's too heavy. You can't release it, because it will squash you as it drops. All you can do is hold it in place, sweating and straining and whimpering "Help!" hoping somebody will walk through the gym, notice you being slowly pressed into a pancake, and lift the weight off you. But what if no one does? Imagine being stuck in that situation for eternity.**

"Understood." Piper said.

Hades began to speak. "Jackson."

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything to come to fields of punishment. I have an idea of a new punishment method. You will be cursed to hold a boulder that magically weighted as the sky until I feel some remorse, which means for the eternity. Understood?" Hades asked.

"Very much."

**That was Atlas's punishment. All the other Titans who fought in the war got off easy. They were pitched headfirst into Tartarus.**

"That got to be hurt." Nico said.

**Which leaves us with the million-drachma question: What happened to Kronos?**

"He was weakened from early fight. I took the advantage from that, grabbed his cool scythe and chopped him up to million pieces, then threw them away." Zeus summed up.

**There are a lot of different stories. Most agree that the Crooked One was dug out of the rubble and brought before Zeus. Most say he was bound in chains like the other Titans and tossed into Tartarus.**

"Wrong. It wasn't that easy." Zeus growled.

**According to some later traditions—and I kind of like this version—**

"Welcome to the club, Jackson." Ares said, floating some pop corn towards Percy. Percy took them and showed them in mouth.

"Percy, are you going evil?" Leo asked, eyes widened with horror.

"Nope. But I can't say no to free pop corn." Percy said.

**Zeus took his father's scythe and sliced him up the way Kronos had sliced up Ouranos. Kronos was thrown into Tartarus in teeny tiny pieces.**

"Hope you had described that way better Jackson." Ares said.

"You could have told me earlier, buddy." Percy said.

**Supposedly, that's where we get the idea of Father Time with his scythe, being deposed every January first by Baby New Year—though it's difficult to imagine Zeus in a diaper and a party hat.**

Hermes typed something in his phone.

**Some versions claim that Zeus released Kronos from Tartarus many years later—either to live out his retirement in Italy, or to rule the Isles of the Blest in Elysium.**

"I think we should do it. He suffered a lot and deserves a retirement. As a side benefit, we don't have to deal with him anymore." Hestia said.

"I will consider that." Zeus said.

**Personally, I don't buy that. It doesn't make sense if you believe that Kronos was chopped to bits. And if you know Zeus, you know he's not exactly the forgive-and-forget type.**

"Well reasoned, Percy." Apollo applaused.

**Anyway, Kronos was done. The age of the Titans was over.**

"Finally. It took forever." Dionysus said

**The Titans who didn't fight against the gods were allowed to stick around. Some, like Helios and Selene, kept their jobs. Some even intermarried with the gods.**

"And half of the council are spawns of Zeus and those titan fan girls." Hera said.

"Come on, no love for us stepmom?" Apollo asked.

"No!" Hera said, but she couldn't stop but make a tiny smile.

**Zeus named himself the new king of the cosmos, but he was smarter than Kronos.**

"More like he had an extra one brain cells, due to the milk from that goat " Demeter said.

**He sat down with his brothers and said, "Look, I want to be fair about this. How about we throw dice for control of different parts of the world? Highest roll gets first choice."**

"Its a magical dice which declared matching domains to us on our innate powers." Poseidon said.

**Hades frowned. "I have rotten luck. What parts are we talking about?"**

"The sky, the sea, and the underworld." Jason said.

**"The sky, the sea, and the Underworld," Zeus offered.**

"Like a father, like a son." Leo said.

**"You mean Tartarus?" Poseidon asked. "Gross!"**

"I know he meant Erebus, but Erebus isn't available in Percy's version." Poseidon said.

**"I mean the upper Underworld," Zeus said. "You know, the nice part nearer to the surface. That's not so bad—big caves, lots of jewels, riverside real estate on the Styx."**

"Zeus really has a way with honeying words." Aphrodite praised.

**"Huh," Hades said. "What about the earth itself? Greece and all the other lands?"**

"I wish I had power to rule the earth." Three brothers said at once.

**That will be neutral territory," Zeus suggested. "We can all operate on the earth."**

**The brothers agreed. Notice how the sisters were not invited to this little dice game? I know.**

"They haven't possess the powers to rule realm. The closest one was Demeter, but she haven't got earth powers potential to rule earth. " Zeus defended himself under the glare of Artemis.

**Totally unfair. But that's how it went down.**

"Easy to say." Artemis grumbled.

**No surprise, Zeus got the highest roll. He chose the sky for his domain, which made sense because of the lightning bolts, and all.**

Zeus made a thunder, then did one of a tribal dance.

**Poseidon got the second-highest roll. He chose the sea and became the supreme god of the waters, above Oceanus, who got pushed ever farther to the margins of the world, and Pontus, who was mostly asleep in the muck all the time anyway.**

Poseidon shoot water out of his trident towards sky, smirking proudly.

**Hades got the worst roll, as he expected. He took the Underworld as his domain, but it kind of suited his gloomy personality, so he didn't complain (much).**

Hades smirked as shadows thickened around them.

**The Hundred-Handed Ones built Zeus the gleaming palace he'd always dreamed of at the top of Mount Olympus.**

Zeus sighed dreamily, his eyes hovered in every direction of his beautiful castle.

**Then Zeus sent them back to Tartarus—but this time as jailers to watch over the Titans. The Hundred-Handed Ones didn't really mind. At least now they were the ones with the whips.**

"Changing of the authority does favour them." Jason said.

**The Elder Cyclopes went to work for the gods. They constructed a workshop at the bottom of the sea near the island of Lemnos, where there was lots of volcanic heat to power their forges. They made tons of special weapons and other fun collectibles, and had a good health package with a week of paid vacation every year.**

"Happily ever after for them anyway." Leo said.

**As for the gods, Zeus invited them all to live with him on Mount Olympus. Each of them had a throne in the main hall, so even though Zeus was in charge, it was more like a council than a dictatorship. They called themselves the Olympians.**

"I wasn't invited. You can't say invited them all." Hades growled.

**Well…I say they were all welcome in Olympus: but Hades, not so much.**

Hades nodded.

**The guy had always creeped out his siblings.**

"Just because your relative is creepy, you shouldn't practically banish him." Piper adviced.

**Now that he was lord of the Underworld, he seemed to bring doom and darkness with him wherever he went.**

**"You understand," Zeus told him privately, "we can't have an Underworld throne up here on Mount Olympus. It would make the other gods uncomfortable, and the skulls and black stone really wouldn't go with the decor."**

**"Oh, sure," grumbled Hades. "I see how it is."**

"I really feel bad for Hades." Poseidon said. The other gods too, began to pay their consolations.

"Oh no need to be sad. I know I'm not welcome here." Hades said.

"Perhaps we can make a throne for Hades after this book." Hephaestus suggested.

Surprisingly, Zeus agreed.

**Anyway, that's how things got started with the gods on Mount Olympus. Eventually there would be twelve thrones in the council chamber, and a whole bunch of other gods who didn't have thrones.**

Hestia and Hades shifted uncomfortably.

**The Olympians figured that now they could settle down and rule the world in peace.**

"Happily ever after!" Nico grinned.

**There was only one problem.**

"What's that?" Hazel asked.

**Remember that the Earth Mother Gaea was taking a nap all this time?**

"Yep!" Leo said.

**Well, eventually she would wake up. And when she got home and found out her favorite kids, the Titans, had been thrown into Tartarus, Zeusie was going to have some explaining to do.**

"We already discussed what's going through her head. She was already broken, now evil and happy to watch the families crumble down." Aphrodite said.

"That's the main case. But we can't forget that she loved her children above anything else." Athena reminded.

**But that's a tale for another day.**

"Nope, one of these days." Apollo said.

**Now it's time to meet the gods, up close and personal. Just be warned, some of their stories might make you feel like Kronos after a big glass of mustard nectar.**

Zeus cleared his throat. "Every mythologic book mentions me first. Perhaps I should read the next chapter too, I take it?"

"Yes, yes should." Percy couldn't help but show the crooked grin he inherited from his grandpa from his father's side. 


End file.
